(We do not own Gundam W, or anything related to it. This fanfic is used for entertainmental purposes only.)
'Twas a cold, still night on a small, airbase located on Earth. The year was AC 198. The stars twinkled merrily in the cold irredesence of space looming high above the sleeping inhabitants of the base. Christmas Eve was just days away, and the ex-Gundam pilots were meeting.
Duo Maxwell turned over on his cot, caught restlessly in the throes of a violent dream. Somewhere within his dreams, a shrill, helpless scream rebounded in his ears. "No.. no.. no.." the eighteen year old ex-Gundam pilot whimpered softly. "Please, no.. Hilde..!! No.. NO!!" He sprang up quickly, a sheen of cold sweat covering his body.
"Maxwell! Shut up!" An irratible Wufei grumped, freshly awoken by his colleague's loud screech. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"
"Wufei," Quatre spoke up, as now everyone was awake, much to their dismay, "please don't yell. It's getting on my nerves. Plus," he laughed quietly, "I think Heero needs his sleep."
"......." Heero rolled over soundlessly.
Duo rubbed his head in confusion.
Wufei snorted. "Go to sleep! It's three A.M." His voice echoed in the darkness of the small sleeping chambers of the airbase.
Trowa swung his legs over the edge of his cot and stood up. "There's no sleeping now. I'm awake." He rubbed his hands over his face in a vain attempt to wipe the last traces of fatigue and disturbing dreams from his mind.
"I don't wanna go back to sleep!" Duo wailed, much like a three year old instead of the young man that he was.
Trowa and Quatre exchanged knowing glances as Duo murmured quietly to himself, seemingly oblivious to the others around him. He was sitting on the side of his cot, hands laying limp on his knees, staring blankly at his upturned palms. Trowa padded softly over to a small counter in the room, seeing as he was already up, and put on a kettle of water to boil, as Quatre turned on a small light. Wufei grunted and rolled over, putting his back to the invasive light.
Quatre stood up and walked over to Trowa, who was busy fixing dry tea in a cup. "To soothe his nerves," Trowa muttered without turning to look at Quatre.
"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Quatre sighed and looked up to his friend. "A great loss such as that is hard to get over.. but.."
"He'll have to get over it," Heero intoned from his cot. "It's not as if he's the one who died. Though it might have been better in the long run."
"Now, Heero.." Quatre looked at the perfect soldier's back pleadingly. Heero remained lying in the corner of the room, back to all. To the casual observer, he would be assumed asleep.
Trowa shook his head sadly. "There's not alot that we can do."
"Hi guys!" Trowa jumped slightly as a cold, clammy arm was placed companionably around his and Quatre's shoulders. "What's up? Tea for me?" Duo chattered. The young man's eyes were unnaturally bright and bloodshot, and his face was ghastly pale.
Quatre looked a bit stirred. "Yeah, Duo. We were awake, so Trowa decided to make some tea."
Trowa nodded silently and poured the boiling contents of the tea kettle in the cups.
"Oh, you should have made coffee. That's what Hilde makes," Duo continued to chatter aimlessly and started to sip his cup of tea.
Quatre closed his eyes painfully and forced a gentle smile onto his face. "Yes.. Duo, how are you and Hilde getting along?"
Trowa sighed heavily, shoulders sagging slightly. "How's your tea, Duo? Is it too hot? Do you need an icecube to cool it down?" During this, Trowa was sending Quatre one message with his eyes. Don't press the subject of Hilde.
"Yeah, me and Hilde are gettin' along great! She makes great tea, just like this. Did you take lessons from her, Trowa? Or did she make this? It must have been you, because she knows I like coffee better. You can't beat a cup of hot coffee or two after working all day at a junk yard!" Duo rambled, then blinked suddenly. Reality creeped in momentarily, and he cringed, suppressing it. "Oh, yeah," he whispered, "we better keep it down. She's asleep." Duo pointed at an empty cot lying next to his. It looked pitiful in its entirety, the essence of a dead woman imagined there.
Everything went quiet momentarily. "Maxwell, go to bed," Wufei spoke up, back still turned to the light. "You need sleep," he said almost tenderly. The five boys had grown closer since Mariemaia's reign of terror.
"Oh, come on Wufei! I can go without my sleep!" The babbling youth's voice cracked in the silence of the room. "Hilde an' me stay up all the time! Only she's not awake right now..." Duo grinned, but a sickly feeling seemed imbedded into the pit of his stomach.
Wufei rose slowly from his cot, and walked past the young man. He gave him a sideways stare as he strode by, then gave a small grunt and shook his head as he dropped his eyes to the floor.
Quatre slowly took Duo's empty teacup and set it back on the counter, then began to lead him in a firm fashion towards his cot. "Now, now, Duo... You know what time it is.. You musn't keep Hilde awake! You know she can't sleep without you." As Duo nodded and began to lie down, Quatre looked over at the others guiltily and shrugged as if to say, 'What else could I have done?'
Wufei leaned over to Trowa, "Do you think it wise that Quatre persists in speaking of Hilde as if she were still alive? Isn't it hard enough on Maxwell that it takes all his energy in maintaining the delusion that the accident never happened?"
Heero sighed, stood up, and ran his fingers through his wild locks of hair. Slowly walking over to the group of boys, he monotoned quietly, "It's a quater until four. Is it really the right time for this conversation?"
Trowa looked up and shook his head softly at Heero. "We've put it off for too long. I think that now is as good a time as any. This in inevitable. Right now, he's in shock. But if we're not careful, he'll go mad."
Quatre placed his hand on Heero's shoulder, "I understand. He needs help." He looked at the now sleeping 18 year old, then turned eyes the colour of a stormy sea to Trowa. "What can we do?"
"Quatre. Quit with his charade. Don't let his fantasies become his reality. His fiancée is dead. Their unborn child is dead. Playing this game will not bring Hilde back to life. Remember that." Wufei whispered stonily, keeping his eyes on the slumbering form across the room.
"Nor will it ease the pain in his heart," Heero intoned quietly. They all stared at him in surprise for a moment, then continued the conversation.
Quatre's shoulders slumped, but he nodded all the same. "I guess... you're right.. I just hate seeing him in such pain. I know that pain." Images of his father, their fights, and his death flashed fleetingly across his mind's eye.
Buried within his thin, army-issued blanket, Duo murmured softly in his sleep. "Can we name him Duo jr.?" Duo sighed softly, his mind sinking deeper into the entagled web of complex dreams, "I think that'd be cool."
"See? Even his dreams are of her," Trowa gestured towards the sleeping youth.
"She's haunting him," Heero said as he walked to his own cot. "Is there really much more to say at this point?"
Wufei silently finished his cup of tea and began to traverse back to his own cot as well. "Maybe this will be better discussed in the morning."
Resigning himself back to his own bunk, Quatre yawned. "We had best turn in for now. Hopefully.. Things will work out.. They must."
'Twas a cold, still night on a small, airbase located on Earth. The year was AC 198. The stars twinkled merrily in the cold irredesence of space looming high above the sleeping inhabitants of the base. Christmas Eve was just days away, and the ex-Gundam pilots were meeting.
Duo Maxwell turned over on his cot, caught restlessly in the throes of a violent dream. Somewhere within his dreams, a shrill, helpless scream rebounded in his ears. "No.. no.. no.." the eighteen year old ex-Gundam pilot whimpered softly. "Please, no.. Hilde..!! No.. NO!!" He sprang up quickly, a sheen of cold sweat covering his body.
"Maxwell! Shut up!" An irratible Wufei grumped, freshly awoken by his colleague's loud screech. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"
"Wufei," Quatre spoke up, as now everyone was awake, much to their dismay, "please don't yell. It's getting on my nerves. Plus," he laughed quietly, "I think Heero needs his sleep."
"......." Heero rolled over soundlessly.
Duo rubbed his head in confusion.
Wufei snorted. "Go to sleep! It's three A.M." His voice echoed in the darkness of the small sleeping chambers of the airbase.
Trowa swung his legs over the edge of his cot and stood up. "There's no sleeping now. I'm awake." He rubbed his hands over his face in a vain attempt to wipe the last traces of fatigue and disturbing dreams from his mind.
"I don't wanna go back to sleep!" Duo wailed, much like a three year old instead of the young man that he was.
Trowa and Quatre exchanged knowing glances as Duo murmured quietly to himself, seemingly oblivious to the others around him. He was sitting on the side of his cot, hands laying limp on his knees, staring blankly at his upturned palms. Trowa padded softly over to a small counter in the room, seeing as he was already up, and put on a kettle of water to boil, as Quatre turned on a small light. Wufei grunted and rolled over, putting his back to the invasive light.
Quatre stood up and walked over to Trowa, who was busy fixing dry tea in a cup. "To soothe his nerves," Trowa muttered without turning to look at Quatre.
"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Quatre sighed and looked up to his friend. "A great loss such as that is hard to get over.. but.."
"He'll have to get over it," Heero intoned from his cot. "It's not as if he's the one who died. Though it might have been better in the long run."
"Now, Heero.." Quatre looked at the perfect soldier's back pleadingly. Heero remained lying in the corner of the room, back to all. To the casual observer, he would be assumed asleep.
Trowa shook his head sadly. "There's not alot that we can do."
"Hi guys!" Trowa jumped slightly as a cold, clammy arm was placed companionably around his and Quatre's shoulders. "What's up? Tea for me?" Duo chattered. The young man's eyes were unnaturally bright and bloodshot, and his face was ghastly pale.
Quatre looked a bit stirred. "Yeah, Duo. We were awake, so Trowa decided to make some tea."
Trowa nodded silently and poured the boiling contents of the tea kettle in the cups.
"Oh, you should have made coffee. That's what Hilde makes," Duo continued to chatter aimlessly and started to sip his cup of tea.
Quatre closed his eyes painfully and forced a gentle smile onto his face. "Yes.. Duo, how are you and Hilde getting along?"
Trowa sighed heavily, shoulders sagging slightly. "How's your tea, Duo? Is it too hot? Do you need an icecube to cool it down?" During this, Trowa was sending Quatre one message with his eyes. Don't press the subject of Hilde.
"Yeah, me and Hilde are gettin' along great! She makes great tea, just like this. Did you take lessons from her, Trowa? Or did she make this? It must have been you, because she knows I like coffee better. You can't beat a cup of hot coffee or two after working all day at a junk yard!" Duo rambled, then blinked suddenly. Reality creeped in momentarily, and he cringed, suppressing it. "Oh, yeah," he whispered, "we better keep it down. She's asleep." Duo pointed at an empty cot lying next to his. It looked pitiful in its entirety, the essence of a dead woman imagined there.
Everything went quiet momentarily. "Maxwell, go to bed," Wufei spoke up, back still turned to the light. "You need sleep," he said almost tenderly. The five boys had grown closer since Mariemaia's reign of terror.
"Oh, come on Wufei! I can go without my sleep!" The babbling youth's voice cracked in the silence of the room. "Hilde an' me stay up all the time! Only she's not awake right now..." Duo grinned, but a sickly feeling seemed imbedded into the pit of his stomach.
Wufei rose slowly from his cot, and walked past the young man. He gave him a sideways stare as he strode by, then gave a small grunt and shook his head as he dropped his eyes to the floor.
Quatre slowly took Duo's empty teacup and set it back on the counter, then began to lead him in a firm fashion towards his cot. "Now, now, Duo... You know what time it is.. You musn't keep Hilde awake! You know she can't sleep without you." As Duo nodded and began to lie down, Quatre looked over at the others guiltily and shrugged as if to say, 'What else could I have done?'
Wufei leaned over to Trowa, "Do you think it wise that Quatre persists in speaking of Hilde as if she were still alive? Isn't it hard enough on Maxwell that it takes all his energy in maintaining the delusion that the accident never happened?"
Heero sighed, stood up, and ran his fingers through his wild locks of hair. Slowly walking over to the group of boys, he monotoned quietly, "It's a quater until four. Is it really the right time for this conversation?"
Trowa looked up and shook his head softly at Heero. "We've put it off for too long. I think that now is as good a time as any. This in inevitable. Right now, he's in shock. But if we're not careful, he'll go mad."
Quatre placed his hand on Heero's shoulder, "I understand. He needs help." He looked at the now sleeping 18 year old, then turned eyes the colour of a stormy sea to Trowa. "What can we do?"
"Quatre. Quit with his charade. Don't let his fantasies become his reality. His fiancée is dead. Their unborn child is dead. Playing this game will not bring Hilde back to life. Remember that." Wufei whispered stonily, keeping his eyes on the slumbering form across the room.
"Nor will it ease the pain in his heart," Heero intoned quietly. They all stared at him in surprise for a moment, then continued the conversation.
Quatre's shoulders slumped, but he nodded all the same. "I guess... you're right.. I just hate seeing him in such pain. I know that pain." Images of his father, their fights, and his death flashed fleetingly across his mind's eye.
Buried within his thin, army-issued blanket, Duo murmured softly in his sleep. "Can we name him Duo jr.?" Duo sighed softly, his mind sinking deeper into the entagled web of complex dreams, "I think that'd be cool."
"See? Even his dreams are of her," Trowa gestured towards the sleeping youth.
"She's haunting him," Heero said as he walked to his own cot. "Is there really much more to say at this point?"
Wufei silently finished his cup of tea and began to traverse back to his own cot as well. "Maybe this will be better discussed in the morning."
Resigning himself back to his own bunk, Quatre yawned. "We had best turn in for now. Hopefully.. Things will work out.. They must."