My life shattered
I fall into despair
And I'm falling still
I fall into the darkness
I fall away from the world
And I fall…
~ Me!
...Fire....
...Pain....
...Blood...
...Momma....
...Papa....
...NO! DON'T TAKE THEM FROM ME!!!
NOOOO!!!!
Avalon lifted her head. Rain poured down upon her broken body in heavy sheets. The icy rain, hitting her exposed and bloody skin, stung brutally. Her soft sapphire eyes searched over the broken concrete, twisted metal, and the inanimate forms of her parents.
Yukie Safaia lay facing the sky, lying in a puddle of her own dark blood. Her side had been ripped away by a large piece of flaming metal.
Avalon's eyes trembled, and unbidden and uncontrolled, salty tears streaked down her face, mingling in the rainwater and blood from a gash on her forehead. "Momma...!" She wailed helplessly.
Her heart hammered in her chest, threatening to break the delicate bones, which protected it.
Nigatsu Safaia was only half in her sight. His body had crushed by the roof as it had collapsed.....and Avalon cried out miserably, unable to form words in her mouth. Her head spun. Pain wracked at her body and grief overwhelmed her. "Momma!! Papa!!!" She shrieked, too weak to stand and approach. "Please wake up! Please!!"
A dark shadow fell across the ruins of her home, and that of her small town that lay destroyed.
She looked up, and her gaze locked upon the monumental white mobile suit known as 01 that loomed over the destruction. It stood unmoving, watching in silent vigil the sight that lay before it.
The war-torn battlefield.
The bloodred sunset.
Avalon.
Shaking in raging anger, Avalon stood. She sneered up at the beautiful armored suit, the red of the sun turning the glorious white to a bright orange. Rain drenched it...running from its face....like tears...
What are *you* crying about, you stupid machine?
She mocked bitterly in her mind.The cockpit door swung out, and a small boy exited, and stood solemnly, watching her and letting rain soak into his skin.
"LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!!!"
She screamed. "THEY'RE DEAD!!!! YOU KILLED THEM!!!"No response from the dark-haired boy reached her, and she fumbled with the debris for some kind of weapon. Picking up a mangled metal bar half her size, she lifted her eyes once again to the suit. The boy no longer stood outside of his cockpit, he was slowly descending to the ground on some wire.
And the moment he touched the ground, Avalon threw herself toward him, screaming. Her eyes were dead, washed over and bitter with her grief. She couldn't see, she could hardly hear. Avalon only knew that she wanted this boy dead. This Gundam pilot. This boy who had effortlessly destroyed her entire life…and stood there, watching her like it was nothing.
As she reached him, it came to her that she was about a third of his height, and for a fleeting moment she assumed she could do some damage to this boy 6 years older than she. Avalon lifted the bar high above her head, and with her screams becoming choking sobs, brought it down to his chest.
He caught it with one hand.
Avalon's head snapped up, her eyes wide and shaking. Her mouth gaped open wordlessly. His solemn eyes found hers, and he tightened his grip on the bar.
"…It was an accident…" He murmured. Avalon wrenched the bar away from him and took one trembling step back.
"And you think that makes up for it?!" She cried. "Look at what you've done!"
He shook his head sorrowfully. "...I don't need to look to know what I've done…what I've taken from you."
Avalon's eyes narrowed. "I hate you!! I want you to die!!!" She raged, and lifted the bar again.
He said nothing, and Avalon let out another wailing cry of agony. "…I want you to die…" She repeated, this time firm, in a fierce whisper.
And then he did respond.
"…You could kill me now. You have reason…"
"It's nice to have your permission first." She spat.
He acted like he heard nothing. His dull eyes were unreadable. "…But that would make you like me. I don't want anyone to be like me…"
She shook her head furiously. "No! You're wrong! I'm nothing like you! Hear me?! Nothing! And I never will!"
"…Maybe. Maybe not."
He took a slow step toward her. Avalon's breath died in her chest and she froze as he approached her. Her arms went limp and she lost her grip on the bar. As it clattered to the muddy ground, and once again met his eyes.
In the midst of the death and destruction, the two stood silently. One was the killer, and the other was the killed. Her heart was bitter, her soul empty from all but hate. His heart was barren, it had never contained anything, and there was nothing to ache for. Nothing to miss, as hers would. His soul was dead to him, he was no mortal. He was a soldier who would drift along the stars forever, coming to kill and be killed over and over again. There would be no end to the blood stained on his hands. And when he looked into her frozen eyes, he knew that he never wanted her to be anything like that. Her heart would ache, it would hate him…but she'd remain an innocent…free to live, die, and never have to see another battle.
"…Keep going." He whispered. "Use your feelings you have toward me to stop this war, if you can. Prevent another. Prevent the bloodshed of today…for tomorrow."
Her eyes shook. "…W-what?" She stammered.
"There will always be another Heero Yuy if the wars continue." He whispered bitterly. "Another me. Do you want this to happen to anyone else?" And he waited for no response. "Just…prevent it. You can."
She narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth. "I will….I'll rid this world of its use for you." She spat the word, it was filthy on her tongue. "My name is Avalon Safaia-- don't you ever forget what you did today."
He shocked the small child incredibly by smiling down at her gently. "That's…exactly what I want to hear."
Avalon's eyes drifted down to the rain-drenched ground as the stars just began to stand out from the dim sky. The sun sank low in the horizon, creating a beautiful display of red and gold. "Go." She whispered hoarsely. "Go and fight in your stupid war."
As he took a shaky step away, Avalon collapsed to the ground in tears. She cried for her family…friends… The bitterness etched into her heart tore her up even more, and she kept crying. She cried for everything her own mentality could grasp.
And maybe…
Maybe she cried for the boy of lost innocence,
Heero Yuy.
@
The man sits, leaning his back onto the dark trunk of a tree that looms over the graveyard. His upright knee props up one arm, with his hand limp and his entire posture looking eased and relaxed.
He's handsome, with level cobalt eyes fixated on the bending road, and dark chocolate hair, which is wild and unruly. He sits perfectly still, the only signs of him being alive at all would be his occasional blink or the movement of his bangs as the wind plays with his hair. He didn't even move when a rather brave squirrel nibbled curiously on his shoe before scampering off.
And finally, he smiles faintly as a familiar white car pulls up not far from him. He casually glances at his watch, checking the time. Perfect. Always the punctual one, eh? He thinks with amusement.
A young woman steps out of the car daintily, and runs a nervous hand through her shoulder-length ebony hair. She smiles placidly, taking a deep breath and studying the graveyard before her with her sapphire eyes, although it had not changed since her last visit. And no different from the past 11 years, the woman doesn't notice the man beneath the tree.
He cocks an eyebrow when the passenger door opens, letting out an older woman with honey blonde hair and similar blue eyes. Relena? What…?
Their voices carry very lightly over the graveyard to where he sits, but he can read lips anyway, and he thoughtfully reads their conversation. "Thank you for coming with me this time, Minister." The younger woman says gratefully.
"I'm happy to, Avalon." Is the honestly spoken response. Avalon reaches into the car, pulling out a small bouquet of white roses, her eyes beginning to sadden. The Prime Minister of Peace looks them over quietly, smiling. "As beautiful as they are, Avalon…why white?"
Avalon's eyes grow even sadder, although she continues smiling. She runs her fingers along the silky petals of her roses, and sighs. "I...hate red." She admits.
"Why?"
There is another sigh from the young pacifist, and she shrugs after a hesitation. "….No real reason, I guess." She says. Relena pats her young friend's shoulder, smiling for her.
"Well…go and give them their roses…you've been waiting all day." She urges softly. Avalon nods, turning around and beginning to walk toward the graves of her parents.
Reaching the site, she hesitates as she always does. With trembling hands, she carefully places the roses on the headstones for Yukie and Nigatsu Safaia. Her eyes water, as they always do, and she sinks to her knees in prayer. She cries quietly, never for too long…but just enough to show her love, show her sorrow for their deaths.
He can see her murmuring to herself, only catching a few lines. "Momma…Papa…you'd be proud of me, wouldn't you?" She whispers. Avalon Safaia is the second most influential pacifist in the era…of course they would be proud. After all, he certainly was. Avalon's next comment came as no surprise, she always would mention something about him… "…He….he took away everything I had. You two…our home…our friends…"
And yet, the conclusion to it, on the other hand, does surprise him a little. "…But in some way…he gave me what I have. The peace I try to maintain…the life I have…created by my hate for him." She pauses, smiling. "…Momma, Papa, I don't hate him anymore. Is that wrong?" She sighs deeply and stands. "Well…anyway… I love you, I'll see you same time next year…"
Avalon turns around, and begins walking shakily to her car. As she walks, she wipes away the wetness from her cheeks and tries to put on a smile, as she always did.
He sighs, shutting his eyes and shaking his head sadly.
When he opens his shadowy eyes, they're filled with strange warmth. He smiles, and whispers into the air, in words that Avalon would only hear in the deep subconscious of her mind.
"Thank you, Avalon."
~ Owari