In memoriam

Author notes: It started out as a little fic in honor of my country's memorial and liberty day 4 and 5 may. The day on which in Holland we remember those who died for peace and freedom and celebrate that freedom that we gained. On may 4th at eight o clock in the evening we take 2 minutes of silence and our entire country everywhere takes those two minutes and remembers those who died in times of war. Not just during WO1 and 2, but also those who died more recently and even those of other countries who died fighting for their freedom or the freedom of others. I hope that those who read this will enjoy it and take their own two minutes to remember those fallen ones who died for us and for all the people in this world's peace.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's.

Chapter 1,

Quatre smiled looking at himself in the mirror. He had grown a lot and lost his baby fat as his sisters lovingly called it. At thirty he still looked all of twenty at most to those around him, but they definitely could no longer accuse him of being too young for something now. The pants of which he'd during the war had to roll up the pipes now fit him perfectly without rolling up the pipes or wearing a belt. His blouse which back then had fallen around his upper body loosely and needed to be tucked in to hide that it was far too long for him now fit well and showed off his strong arms and chest well. the purple vest he also wore was now too small and so for this day he'd had one custom made to fit him. fifteen years had passed so rapidly it seemed.

"Papa? Aren't you going to wear your uniform?" a petit blond haired girl asked looking up at her dad with big purple-blue eyes. Quatre smiled and shook his head at his daughter. She looked so cute in her school's white and blue sailor uniform with the Barrette which was a bit too big for her still.

"No, this is just fine. I wasn't a soldier after all." Quatre said smiling at his daughter.

"But papa fought in the war did he not?" the girl asked.

"Well yes Lisa, but papa wasn't a soldier in the war. Papa didn't fight with an army." Quatre said tapping her on the nose before lifting the barrette which threatened to fall over her eyes back up.

"But papa fought in the war so papa was a soldier too. People who fight in wars are soldier Miss Kean said so." Lisa said pouting stubbornly.

"Is that so huh? Well we had better get going now sweety or papa will be late." Quatre said picking up his daughter and walking to the car where Rashid was already waiting to drive them to their destination.

OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

"Hey Quat!" Duo called grinning as he waved at the blond who got out of the sleek silver viper and reached back in to pull his daughter out.

"Duo! It's so good to see you!" Quatre called as he turned with Lisa on his arm. Lisa smiled and waved at Terry Maxwell who was perched atop her father's neck and laughing happily. She had a big bow in her hair and wore a pastel pink, yellow and orange dress shirt with long sleeves that was a bit too big for her atop a pastel green pair of pants.

"Wow it's hard to believe Lisa is the same age as Terry; she's gotten big." Duo said smiling.

"Well it's been a long five years since we last saw one another. How's Lynn?" Quatre asked smiling as Duo put his daughter down and she dragged Lisa to where the other kids were.

"She's good, at the hospital right now awaiting our second. She forced me to come here and take our daughter with me. How are you holding up now?" Duo said his smile fading some now the kids were off playing.

"It's been hard, but I remind myself that Lisa needs me. The real challenge will be to keep going once Lisa stops needing me." Quatre said watching his daughter run happily after Terry.

"You're not alone, you know that right? You can call me any time of day; the other too. We'll drop everything n be there in under five minutes." Duo said placing a hand on Quatre's shoulder.

Duo knew life had been hard for the blond. He'd been there five years ago when Quatre's world had come crashing down on him at the news that his wife Helena had died in child-birth. After the war Quatre had been in a dark place and for five long years he'd thrown himself at his work, at projects, at rebuilding the colonies he'd destroyed and whatever mission for the lady he could get his hands on. Whatever helped him forget the guilt he felt for his war time actions. Duo and the other ex- pilots had been shocked since it'd been Quatre who had been so happy and upbeat about their future just after the war and now he was slowly killing himself. When they got the news that Quatre had lost it and tried to kill himself they'd not been shocked; just saddened that they'd not seen it coming. All of them were thankful for sweet Helena Wilhelms who'd been his secretary all these years and had gone to check on him that day when he'd not come into work. She'd acted quick and adequate and had saved his life.

The following year was no less dark for the blond. Recovery took long in all ways especially emotionally. Helena had stayed by his side though and with help from Duo and Trowa who visited often in that time had worked diligently toward helping Quatre find himself again. As time went on though Quatre slowly began to come to terms with his actions and was able to begin living again. He even over time fell in love with Helena who had supported him through it all and hadn't left even during some of his worst psychotic episodes. When three years after his failed suicide Quatre had confided into Duo that he wanted to ask her to marry him Duo had given him his blessing knowing she was the best thing that could've happened to his gundam brother. It helped that Duo had known she'd been in love with her boss a long time, but hadn't wanted to admit it to him before as it seemed inappropriate for a secretary and later had refrained because Quatre had enough to deal with during his recovery. However not two years after their wedding Helena died of complications during child labor and Duo had been called by Rashid who was at the end of his wits as Quatre was a mess and the child needed caring for. Duo had dropped everything and over the year he was at Quatre's had helped Quatre slowly pick up his life. Lisa needing the blond seemed to be all that kept him from committing suicide a second time it seemed, but Quatre was fighting though and his admission that it would be hard when his daughter was all grown up meant he had no intention of leaving the world of the living as yet.

Quatre smiled at Duo unable to express how much it meant to him that Duo would still drop everything for him.

"I know. But I can't have you always dropping your own life on hold for me Duo. It will be hard, but I will have to do it myself." Quatre said quietly. The two then silent walked to where their friends were already waiting.

"That priest outfit still looks strange on you though even now it really does fit you." Quatre said giggling some and ducking the friendly punch to the head Duo sent his way.

"Thanks so much, you're no fashion icon yourself Winner." Duo said grinning.

"He's consistent at least." Heero said walking up to them with a pair of identical looking girls dressed in the same color scheme, but different yet similar looking attire along behind him. The first girl Had a pair of blue jeans, a white blouse and pink short sleeved hoodie and black sneakers on and the other had pink shorts a white short sleeved blouse and a blue jeans hoodie with long sleeves and red Mary-Jane style shoes on. The first sported her long chocolate colored hair up in a ponytail with a big red bow and the second had her hair down and out of her face decorated by a little clip with a black little bow on either side of her head. Their only difference really seemed to be that the first had Heero's Prussian blue eyes while the second had probably her mother's hazel ones.

"Hello Heero. I see you decided against the spandex shorts?" Duo said teasingly.

"Contrary to you two I actually do know a thing or two about fashion. I just don't always care about it." Heero said shrugging.

After the war the Japanese teen had gone and disappeared for five long years only to return immediately when Sally somehow got the news about Quatre to him. During his absence Heero had gone to L1 to find himself and found not only himself, but also a certain little girl he'd thought dead. Though she'd not been so little anymore. Heero after finding out she was still alive and relatively okay safe the wheelchair found himself very much lighter feeling. He'd told them that he'd offered her parents to pay in full for their medical costs since it was his mission that had caused her to become impaired and the parents let him knowing he needed this to help him recover from his lifelong traumas. Upon receiving the mail from Sally Heero immediately flew back to earth to see his new friend and after Quatre was doing better he decided to leave the blond in Duo and Trowa's care and trust them to help the blond while he went to see the world and discover whom he wanted to be like Louise the little girl from the puppy had told him he should do.

Ten long years had passed since Duo or Quatre had seen the Japanese teen and he looked amazing for it. Like all of them he'd grown a bit and become more lean and masculine losing the almost childlike chubbiness of his face and finally growing into his muscles as Duo had called it. instead of being somewhat bulky as he'd been during the war he was now a lean well muscled young man, but his hair seemed forever stuck in model 'just out of bed' as they'd come to call it.

"I see you've not been sitting still these ten years." Quatre said nudging his head to the pair behind Heero.

"And you have? These are Yuki and Kiera. Come on you two you normally talk ten miles an hour don't tell me you've developed acute laryngitis." Heero said nudging the two a bit. Both looked at one another and giggled before bowing and in complete synchronization said hello before running off.

"Creepy…So who's the unlucky lady stuck with you?" Duo said grinning playfully.

"Her name is Maighenn and don't let her hear you say that." Heero said pointing to where Lisa and Terry were talking animatedly with a sporty looking brunette with hazel colored eyes who was happily talking back.

"Not bad. So? When did you get married? I don't recall being invited." Duo said watching the woman a moment before turning to his friend.

"You weren't. We were partners for a mission in Africa. We spent nearly five months together undercover and…well you know?" Heero said feeling a little awkward talking about it.

"You did the horizontal tango and she ended up preggers?" Duo teased.

"Uhm no not right away at any rate, but well…we'd only just barely managed to survive that mission and emotions ran more than a little high and…we ended up doing…that…and from there things kind of just took their course…we were sent on more missions and eventually at some point somewhere near Vegas trying to roll up a weapons smuggler and his crew we ended up captured and after escaping just barely alive…well she asked me to marry her. We got married in Vegas and left for Brussels the next day to inform the Lady of this and that she could shove her weapon smuggling drug dealer off a long and preferably steep cliff for all we cared. I decided around then that I was sick of doing everyone's dirty work and fighting all the time and so Maighenn and I left for Japan. I got a job there fixing broken computers and other technical appliances and vehicles of all kinds. Then Maighenn told me she was pregnant with the twins. They're eight now." Heero said running a hand through his hair in that familiar gesture he always used during the war when he felt uncertain or awkward.

"Sounds like life was good to you Heero. I'm glad." Quatre said smiling.

"Starting without us?" asked Wufei from behind the three as he and Trowa came walking over. Trowa wearing his trademark dark blue turtleneck and faded jeans and Wufei in his familiar white dress shirt and pants. Wufei looked amazing. He'd like all of them grown and lost his boyish features which had been replaced for a handsome man's face still fine in built, but definitely manly. He wore his long hair loose now and on his nose was a pair of gold rimmed, oval shaped reading glasses which he now used whenever he wasn't out on missions. Behind him his new wife Rin Lowe walked sporting baby Qiang on her arm and followed by the triplet Zhu Jiang and Ping. Rin wore an outfit similar to her husbands, but a red shirt and black pants. The eight year old triplets wore pink blue and green traditional Chinese dress gowns respectively and baby Qiang wore a yellow footsie pajama.

Their marriage had been odd to say the least. Wufei's elders had pestered him about re-marrying and bringing forth new heirs to the family something Wufei wasn't at all ready for at the time. The elders though kept pushing and told him they had a wife for him waiting to be married at his earliest convenience. Upon talking about this with his partner Rin he found that Rin had a good idea in his telling the elders he had married already and as such avoid this wife they'd chosen for him that Wufei didn't like. He found she had a good point in that the two of them got along well and had similar interests and a wedding between them wouldn't seem odd or out of place at all given the rumors at Preventors. So it had started out as an agreement between the two that this wedding was for mutual benefit and over time as Wufei slowly came to terms with his past and his actions he came to find that Rin was an intelligent, sweet and warm person. She was a great listener and caring in her own way. She kept to herself and went about her own way and let Wufei go about his. When the elders had come to see if this marriage really was out of love or just to keep Wufei from having to bend to their whims, she'd just been her usual self mostly and was able to answer any inquiry the elders made in such an intelligent and witty way that Wufei found himself feeling things he'd not experienced ever before and as time passed he slowly came to appreciate her in his own way. By the time Quatre had gone off the proverbial deep end the two had been together for nearly three years and during Quatre's most troubled time Wufei came to find in Rin a great comfort and support. He'd then also first come to realize that he might be falling for her for real. It still took him almost three more years to finally dare ask her to make their marriage a real one. Quatre smiled at this memory as it had been one of the first happy ones he'd had during that dark time. He'd known the moment he first met her that Rin in her own quiet way loved Wufei, but refused to push him into anything he didn't want. She was content pretending to be his wife and living by his side day by day. Wufei's feelings then had been too frail and too new yet for him to act upon. It took three long years of struggling to help Quatre for Wufei to finally admit that he wanted what they had to be real and not just a pretence to keep the elders off his back.

Trowa looked exactly like he did during the war only still taller. Still the tallest of the five at 6"8 Trowa had filled out more and instead of being lanky and skinny he was handsomely tall and lean. One could tell he was eating right now. Post war for Trowa had existed of finding a diet that would help him gain a few pounds to his underweight body and after he'd left Quatre in the hands of Helena and Duo and went back to his circus home Trowa as Quatre knew from letters the boy sent faithfully that Trowa had found love in the exotic snake girl Sohma Paris and the two had an adorable 10 year old daughter by the name of Luci whom sported her mom's dark brown almost back hair and her father's bright green eyes. Today Luci followed her father by her mother's hand and wore a cute red Lolita style dress which offset her mother's pastel green summer dress.

"Hey you two. Looking good." Duo grinned. Quatre and Heero just smiled at the two.

"You too. So how is Lynn holding up with two kids." Wufei said teasingly. Duo grinned back at him.

"Fine, she's due any moment for number two and can't wait for it to be out. It'll be a C-section since the kid is in the wrong position to come out or something. I'm no doctor, but I know he ain't with his head down so it ain't good." Duo said.

"Complications can happen. I remember Terry had her umbilical cord around her neck." Wufei said nodding.

"Yep twice. No clue how that happened, but yeah. Lynn was mighty upset about it, but it turned out fine. That's why we decided it would be a hospital birth either way…she kicked me out to go be with you guys today though. Hope she'll be fine." Duo said smiling sadly at the memory.

"She'll be just fine. If she insisted you come here then she must be alright and she's in the hospital. They have everything they need at hand to help her." Wufei said patting Duo on the back encouragingly.

"Starting without us?" Sally called cheerfully as she, her son Billy, Lucrezia and Milliardo and their daughter Jill joined them.

"Oh Déjà doodle." Duo said blinking as he looked between Zechs and his son.

"It's called Déjà Vu." Milliardo said smiling.

"Whatever it is I'm having it." Duo said shaking his head and avoiding the arm Milliardo attempted to throw across his shoulders before he walked off opening his phone and talking to whoever called.

Quatre smiled. Milliardo and Jill truly were each other's mirror image in looks, but their sense of clothing was completely different. Milliardo wore a red sleeveless shirt and some black jeans and Jill wore a white turtleneck and faded blue jeans. Noin looked amazing for someone pregnant. She wore a white summer dress that did nothing to hide the sizable bulge in which not three, but five little babies were growing and she was only four months pregnant. Sally wore her Preventor uniform and had her son in a similar uniform, but for academy students following close behind. He had his father's tan and dark brown curls and his mother's blue eyes, but was quite shy by comparison. Sally smiled warmly as she introduced her now 15 year old to Milliardo and Noin and their 14 year old. It was clear that the two liked each other and Quatre couldn't help but chuckle.

Further down the hill Heero's Twins Yuki and Kiera were braiding flowers into Lisa's long blond hair while Terry happily rand around gathering pretty flowers for her friend's hair. Heero's wife Maighenn talked animatedly to Sohma who sported a sleeping Luci on her lap. Relena sat beside the two and listened as her daughter Felicity whom wasn't at all used to all these people and surprisingly quite shy for a five year old was with her. Felicity in a similar sailor uniform to Lisa, but without a barrette and in pastel yellow and pink with a little red bow laid draped across her mother's lap allowing her mom to gently comb her hair while she played on her gameboy (TM).

Neither Sally nor Relena had their respective husband with them. Relena because she'd kicked him out after finding him in her bed with her best friend and Sally because hers had died around the same time as Helena had. The Lady never married maintaining that Treize had been her one and only and had taken the care of Marimeia upon her. These two now stood waiting by the monument.

"Ready?" Trowa asked squeezing Quatre's shoulder encouragingly.

"Yes. Wish she could've been here today. It's the first time we're doing this with all of us together." Quatre said smiling sadly.

"She's here. She and everyone whom we so dearly miss are watching us from beyond the grave today." Sally said warmly as she joined the two. Quatre smiled and then laughed as Terry and Lisa and Heero's twins pushed and pulled Luci, Felicity, Bill, Jill, Jing, ping Zhu and baby Ping with them and had them all line up beside Marimeia. It was endearing to see his daughter and her friends putting on serious faces and telling the others to put on their serious face too; none of these children safe Marimeia who technically wasn't a child anymore either had never known war in their lives. They had seen only the ruins left by it, but never the terrors of war. They knew not the feel of dread as bomber planes flew over with a loud threatening hum or the quaking of the ground so similar to an earthquake as mobile suits marched through the streets. They knew nothing of the fearful anticipation so many at that terribly time of war had felt as they laid in their beds and wondered if they would still be alive the next day or if their school was still standing. No they were fortunate to never have to wonder how many of their classmates would not be in school the next day or ever again after that. They were so very fortunate to never have to fear that their brother or sister or they themselves would be the next one to be killed. Their lives would never know such dangers.

War, that terrible horrible war of three hundred years since the weapons known as mobile suits were first implemented as killing machines was finally over. The adults here today were the ones who saw it to the end. They were the last ones to have lived in that fearful time of danger and hate. They were the last ones to go to war at an age where they should be thinking of school and football matches and slumber parties.

Quatre joined his brothers as they all lined up with their respective family behind the children and also stared toward the monument. The tall pillar of marble stood before them a somber reminded of those who died for peace; 100 015 names were carefully etched into the pillar's marble surface. As per his own wishes Treize's name was the very last one on this very long list of all those who'd died during the last year of that long bloody war. the other side held a poem that spoke of the war, the loss and the grief and around the bottom just above the base on which the pillar stood ran a solemn phrase; In memoriam let the generations to come see and know the price of peace. It was a simple yet beautiful monument. Around the base of the stone laid flowers and lit candles to honor the dead. Quatre barely heard the speech The Lady held. He just stared at the center of the stone and the two names that meant most to him. He sent his own silent prayer to the sky for them as the lady finished her speech and preceded them all in the traditional two minutes silence.

"…may this monument forever stand and may its text never fade so that the world forever will know the price we paid."

Hope you enjoyed it!