The Crow: Dark Avenger
By Ashe
Disclaimer:
Gundam Wing and its characters are trademarked and copyright by Ban Dai. The Crow was created by J.O. Barr. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to make money so do not distribute it with that purpose in mind!
Warning:
This story contains violence, bad language, shonen ai, and references to the supernatural. Do not read if your parents won't let you go to a PG-13 movie!
Dark Avenger
By Ashe
Prologue "The Black Bird She Saw"
After Colony 210, April
Soft footfalls echoed throughout the fifteen-year-old hangar, resounding across the immense underground structure. Poor lighting obscured the female figure as she walked past the metallic remains lying along the walls. She carried a single red rose with her. Relena paused in her procession through the hanger to reflect in front of a particular pile of twisted, scorched metal. The few rays of light illuminating the area managed to draw her attention to the mangled remains of Wing Zero's Twin Beam Cannon.
"Oh Heero, how I miss you," said Relena quietly, bowing her head in respect of the fallen Gundam. She could still hear Duo's screams as he had watched Wing Zero explode during the battle with the new military power, the Emerald Green. Damn Dorothy and her betrayal. At least she had had fourteen good years with the Gundam boys before the war.
A tear formed in Relena's eye. She wiped it away quickly and continued on through the bay. Her thoughts turned to poor Quatre. He had fought so valiantly against Emerald Green's assault. He and Duo had been the last two Gundam pilots defending the Sanc Kingdom. Quatre had been recovered alive, but unconscious. It had been one year, and Quatre still did not wake. Noin and Sally Poe continued to rotate shifts watching poor Quatre when they were not on a mission. It seemed they had to spend more and more time defending the Sanc Kingdom from E.G.'s continuing assault. Duo had not faired as well and had been given a proper burial.
Relena walked past Wufei and Trowa's Gundams. They had fallen right after Heero. Dorothy's handiwork yet again. Dorothy had become an excellent Mobile Suit pilot within the last few years. Her skill combined with the firepower of her new weapon made the Gundams stand against E.G. a futile effort. Lady Une had tried to get to Dorothy and help Trowa and Wufei, but when her suit had been crippled she could not intervene. It had been a horrible time and showed no signs of getting any better anytime soon.
Finally, Lady Peacecraft came to rest before the only complete and restored Gundam in the bay. Parts from the other Gundams had been salvaged to repair the one before her. At first her reasoning was that this one had received the least amount of damage, but later it seemed fitting that Deathscythe Hell would be watching over the remains of these once proud machines. Only Relena and the technicians who had repaired it knew what stood down here.
She would come to the hangar to get away from it all. It was her little monument to the five boys who tried to change their universe for the better. This whole area made the fight against Emerald Green seem that much more real and urgent to her.
"Guard them well, Deathscythe. I must visit your pilot to pay my respects. It just seems right to visit the boys on the anniversary of…" Relena's voice trailed off. She didn't want to emphasize the truth, not here in front of poor Deathscythe.
Relena began walking quickly past the standing Gundam towards a door that led outside. Outside of the Gundam Bay was a misty hillside overlooking a large wooded waterfall and river. Despite the roar of the falls, the scene was quiet. A grave marker broke the stillness on the hill. Duo and Heero used to spend a lot of time here together. Relena had insisted that Duo be buried here and not in some square to show respect to the pilots. Respect was one thing, honoring the dead's wishes another, and she knew that Duo would want to be here.
The grave marker was a memorial all its own. Besides Duo, Heero, Trowa and Wufei's names all appeared here. "Fighting for the Future" was etched in the stone with all of their birth dates listed. A spot had been left for Quatre. Relena feared that if he did not wake up soon he would be joining Duo.
"Duo, I miss your laugh and practical jokes. Even if you did steal Heero's heart from me, you did not deserve the hand Fate dealt you. Please watch over the others wherever you are Duo. I love you all."
Tears began to stream down Relena's flushed cheeks. She knelt at the grave sobbing, her tears striking the damp soil.
"I'm trying to be strong, but we've lost so much. I just wish…I wish you, any of you, could come back to us and help us."
Lady Peacecraft gingerly placed the rose on the grave, her tears giving the rose a slight sparkle as it picked up the dim sunlight from above. As she rose, a dark shape landed on the grave marker. Startled, she jumped back slightly before she realized it was just a bird.
A black bird.
A crow.
She smiled as the bird eyed her. Relena sniffled back a tear or two. "Watch over my boys, little bird. They deserve better than anyone can give, including myself."
She bowed to the crow out of respect for the dead and retreated from it just as quietly as she had come. Relena vaguely remembered a legend revolving around a crow bringing back the dead to right the wrongs committed by the living against them. Wouldn't it be nice… no… she pushed the thought out of her mind. It was just a daydream, and right now there was no time for daydreams. The crow waited patiently. It was only a matter of time.
