Faith In Humanity

By TwinEnigma

Standard Disclaimer: I do this for fun and not profit; I do not own characters from Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing.

Warnings: Strawman has a point.

Usagi, her husband, and her guardians occupy one end of the table. The representative appointed by the Emergency Alliance Powers of the Earth Sphere Unified Nations, the Colonies and Mars, sits at the other end, flanked by her guards; two young men who radiate contained violence. The table stretches between them, a gulf of plastic and steel that echoes the breadth of centuries between their worlds.

The room is ominously silent and Usagi can't help but squirm in her seat, her heart thundering as she desperately tries to recall whether or not she'd forgotten anything that could help them to bridge this gap.

And yet, still, there is silence.

The representative, this Relena Darlian, picks up her teacup and takes a sip of her tea, deliberately exaggerating the entire process. Then, slowly, she lowers the teacup to the saucer and places them on the table. Her face and eyes betray nothing of what she might be thinking.

"The offer is quite generous," she states politely.

Immediately, Usagi feels an ache in her heart – she can hear the unsaid but coming before it even crosses the representative's lips.

"But I am afraid that we will have to refuse," Relena finishes.

"On what grounds?"Haruka practically shouts, echoing Usagi's own feelings; everyone's nerves were already horribly frayed from the whirlwind of their awakening to this strange, eerily hostile world and now, to hear this after such a long meeting was frustrating in the extreme.

For the first time, there is a flicker of frost in the representative's eyes. "You mentioned that your proposition would guarantee peace, through the removal of negative energies."

"Purification, yes," Usagi pipes up, with the start of a smile on her lips.

"Perhaps you could clarify the definition of negative energies," Relena states and it is patently clear that this is not a request, but a demand. Even her personal guards seem momentarily taken aback at the sheer audacity of this girl, who can't be more than a teenager, and the way she stares down the table at them, unflinching, and expects an answer.

Haruka and Rei both look like they'd like to crush the girl like a bug, but it is Minako's expression, blank and distant, that is truly worrisome. Usagi discreetly signals to her party that it is all right and, taking a deep breath, she scoots forward in her chair. "I'm sorry, I don't follow."

"What constitutes negative energy in a person?" Relena asks, raising a hand to wave in a broad sweep. "Is it an external force to a person or is it internal? Is that person responsible for their actions or is this negative energy to blame?"

"Well, that is…" Usagi falters, sinking down in her chair. It is clear that they do not understand at all what she means. In her gut, she has a sinking feeling about where this is going, and, idly, she wishes she could just turn this over to Rei to explain. Rei was so much better at this kind of thing than her (and it was her area of expertise, no less), but this game is all about appearances and so she has to be the one to do this. "It's hard to explain."

How do you explain breathing to a person who does not know what air is? That is the sort of challenge she faces now and she does not know quite how to approach it.

"What I am asking you is quite simple," Relena states archly, cutting off any further response. "Do you believe in free will?"

"W-what – yes, of course," Usagi answers and, almost automatically, she raises a hand to indicate to her guardians that it's fine. "If that's what you are worried about, then I assure you that you have nothing to fear. It will simply remove negative energies influencing the world – no more, no less – and the fighting will stop."

"Will it? I wonder," Relena says and, gracefully, she rises from her seat to approach the window.

Next to her, Usagi hears Mamoru take a sharp breath and his fingers, entwined with her own, squeeze hers lightly. She can feel his power thrum beneath his skin with recognition and, curiously, focuses her attention more closely on the representative.

Relena looks out the window, her face utterly impassive. For a moment, this slip of a girl is gone and it is easy to see why everyone in this strange, crazy world believes in her so utterly and once called her their ruler. She carries herself like a born queen, her very presence carrying an immeasurable gravity that seems impossible for one who is not a guardian like them. Here is a young woman, born in violence and tragedy, who has fashioned herself into the symbol of hope for her world and, in doing so, has become more than herself. She is real in a way that the Neo Queen Serenity of Usagi's hazy memories never was.

"The people of this time are fighters," Relena states solemnly. Her hand clenches into a fist. "There are plenty of people who have tried to force their idea of peace upon the rest of us. They have used soldiers and super weapons, viruses and nanomachines, politics and policy. Negative energies did not cause our wars – we did. Everything we have, even this peace, we have fought long and hard to obtain and it was all of our own choosing. The actions and choices we made are our responsibility and no one else's. We, as a people, do not take kindly to those that would force our hand."

"But we're not doing that," Usagi protests.

"Aren't you?" Relena asks, turning her head to look at them. "You arrive from nowhere, announcing that you are the fated rulers of this world, and insist on negotiating a transition of power on your terms."

"That's not quite accurate," Usagi starts, but again she is cut off.

"I should think it is," Relena counters and, though her voice is soft, it is icy and condemning. "From the outset, it has been made very clear to us where we sit in terms of power in these negotiations. Your court has demonstrated their power readily enough and you yourself make constant mention of this future world of yours. You insist that this future is inevitable and yet you offer us these negotiations, as if we are generously being given a choice. You would give us peace, longevity and vitality, but at the cost of our nebulously defined negative energies, which you have implied to influence our behavior, thus robbing us of responsibility for our own actions."

It is all but said: you have insulted us, gravely.

Usagi looks helplessly over her shoulder, searching for Setsuna, but she is not there, and reluctantly returns her attention to the representative. All the while, she thinks that this is not how things were supposed to go.

"Understand this," Relena continues relentlessly, "We are a people who make our own fate. We own up to everything we do. For good or ill, that is our way. Try to force us and we will fight back."

Usagi squirms in her seat, for the first time in a long time uncertain of herself. Unbidden, the image of the inverted black crescent moon comes to mind. Suppressing a shudder, she wonders if there truly is no way to avoid that fate and pipes up, "But we'll be bringing an end to sickness and starvation, too."

It sounds pathetic even to her own ears.

Relena looks down the table at them with the eyes of a true queen, one who both knows her people and holds her duty to them as sacred beyond measure, and when she speaks, it is as if the will of the whole world resonates in her every word: "As I said, your offer is indeed generous. But, all the same, we refuse. The cost is beyond reason."

In that moment, Usagi understands the girl – no, woman, at the other end of the table completely.

Relena is scared of them and of their powers. She knows her people cannot win in a fight against them. She knows that military action would be useless against magical powers like theirs. She knows that if Usagi willed it, she would be dead in an instant. But she stands before them, her back straight, and boldly challenges them on behalf of all her people. They have put their faith in her ability to speak on their behalf and make their wishes known and she has put aside her fears to do so, knowing full well she could be going to her death.

What a frightening resolve!

"Then," Usagi says, standing. She pauses a moment, searching her heart for the right words, the words that capture the honesty and goodness she truly knows that she intends, and decides. "Then, we shall honor that. We'll step back and we won't interfere unless there is no other choice. We're not going to force anything on anyone who does not want it. If a person wishes to take us up on our offer, then let it be their decision and no one else's."

Relena gives her a glance that is both evaluating and a silent request to continue. "And what of your fated future?"

Usagi shakes her head, smiling wistfully, and forgoes the formality she'd been trying so hard to stick to for the simple truth: "Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue how that came to pass in the first place. Going there was sort of like… skipping to the end of a book and reading the last chapter? You kind of miss everything in the middle."

At that, the representative and her guards share a bemused look. Behind her, Usagi can hear her own guardians quietly groaning in exasperation and embarrassment.

"I figure that if it's really meant to pass in any way, then we'll get there eventually," Usagi adds, "Through our own choices and our own actions. And, who knows, maybe it all turns out different this time? It's like they always say: the future isn't written in stone."

"Perhaps," Relena says, coolly. She inclines her head a little, one sovereign acknowledging another of equal standing. "Then, we have an understanding."

"Yes," Usagi replies, smiling kindly.

They shake hands, bid farewell, and Relena turns to leave, her guards flanking her.

Usagi lets out a deep breath, like she's been running a marathon, and sinks back into her chair.

"I'm proud of you, Usako. I know it was rough, but I think… maybe it had to be done that way from the start," Mamoru says quietly, in their native Japanese. He closes his eyes for a moment, looking distinctly shaken, and continues, "I could feel the faith the people of this time have in her. If we had forced the issue..."

Nearby, Minako snorts and rolls her eyes, interjecting in Japanese, "We'd have won the argument already."

Mamoru pauses to look at the guardian of Venus, and shakes his head, adding in Japanese, "I am not so certain. The people of this time believe in her. There is great magical weight in that. Trust me, I can feel it."

Both Haruka and Minako begin to argue the point with him and Usagi sighs, tuning the squabble out. She's just glad that the meeting is over with and that she'd managed to turn it back from the brink of absolute disaster.

She gets up and drifts towards the window, looking out. She watches the way the distant horizon curls up impossibly and thinks that she will never get used to these colonies.

A knock on the door draws everyone's attention.

"Your car is here," the guard, a man in that same blue uniform with the olive green shoulders as Relena's guards, states.

But Usagi does not move. Her eyes are locked on him, this tall man, and for a moment, she is sure that she is seeing a ghost. Her mind races and rages at the idea that she cannot escape the shadow of Nemesis.

It is too early, she thinks, and then she pauses, thinking about it. That's right, she thinks. Prince Diamond will not be born for a long time yet and, now that she looks more closely, she can see that this man's hair is not white, but a very light platinum blond. He lacks the black crystal earrings and the black crescent on his forehead, true, but the shape of his face is very much like the one of her memories – a distant ancestor, perhaps?

An ominous sense of fatalism looms over her and her stomach churns. She thinks of what that Mamoru of a long-ago future past told them of the rise of Nemesis and of Relena's words, now laden with foreboding: try to force us and we will fight back.

"Of course," Mamoru addresses the guard, in English. "Shall we go, Usako?"

She smiles thinly and takes his hand. "Yes, let's."

It's still possible that they could avoid the Nemesis situation entirely.

She believes that.

She has to.

After all, the future isn't written in stone, right?

AN:

So, before anyone gets angry, I want you to stop and think about how someone like Usagi must have sounded to the people of the Gundam Wing universe.

"Hey, I'm your predestined magical sovereign with my court of super-powered magical soldiers and my magic husband, and I'm going to give you peace, long life and magic away all the bad stuff, like wars and anger and hunger and illness, because time travel says I do this. When can I start ruling?"

To a universe of (basically) muggles where fate and magic are the stuff of fairy stories, that must have sounded completely insane.

I did try to make it clear that Usagi is Just Not Good At Explaining stuff, like how purification works - she'd probably have gotten a better response if she'd used "anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering/the dark side" or some variation thereupon where negative entities find a home in bad vibes, instead of accidentally inferring that people are not responsible for the bad stuff they do. Likewise, I tried to make it clear that she doesn't quite fully see how scary she might look to someone who is outside her magical friend club, which honestly kinds skews her level of normal. She is also struggling, as she knows the end result (Crystal Tokyo + peace) but doesn't know how they got there or what it might have taken to get there, or how the whole original Black Moon incident truly got started.

Relena, additionally, I've portrayed as very much a counterpoint and there's a reason why I used "a sovereign of equal standing" at the end there: Usagi and Relena recognize each other as both wanting to do the right thing for the people of the world, but while Usagi comes from a magical "wand-wave the problems away" standing, Relena comes from the more realistic standing that, sometimes, people need to solve their own problems on their own terms. Taking away their choice in the matter won't do them any favors and, sometimes, it'll just result in them getting mad at you for taking their agency away. Relena's arguments and points are very valid too: what constitutes the limits of personal responsibility where "negative energies" are concerned? What exactly is a negative energy? And she is right in pointing out that they did basically show up on the front lawn and insist they surrender control of the earth to them, because "we are the rulers in the future, so let's go, pony up." If you were a member of the ESUN or its colonies and you heard that, you'd be pretty pissed and insulted too.

Additionally, as Mamoru hints, the faith the people of her era put in Relena carries a very heavy magical weight; though she has put down the title of Queen of the Earth, Relena, as far as everyone (magical) is concerned, is implied to still be very much a true and proper queen of the Earth and its colonies, with a valid claim to the people she represents.

And then at the end, surprise Milliardo Peacecraft, spooking the crap out of Usagi, because I could.

To address any concern that Relena is out of character:

In the conclusion of Endless Waltz, Relena does actively encourage the world to stand up to Dekim Barton's invasion forces. A pacifist does not have to be passive in supporting their ideals, a realization that is part of her growth as a character. Even the most stalwart pacifist does not have to stand idly by in the face of oppression or attack: they have the power to actively resist their oppressors or those who are oppressing others, be it through non-violent protest, speech, the provision of medical aid, shelter and transport of those suffering around them, or aid in other capacities. Moreover, not all battles are won with violence, just as not all battles are conducted on a physical battlefield - neither of which preclude pacifists from participating within the bounds of their ideals. Relena is a pacifist and eschews violence, yes, that is true, but she would absolutely advocate resisting something as unjust and morally heinous as the removal of free will.