Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or any of the characters… that is only a fevered dream. So yeah… Gundam 00 belongs to Sunrise Animation and Bandai. The only claim I have is to being a fan…

Warning: Season 2 spoilers are in this fic! If you have not seen past episode 25, you should stop reading immediately!

I Know My Love Can Never Reach You

By athrunzala

~Begin flashback~

In the middle of the city, inside a normal looking apartment, two people were sleeping. To the untrained eye, this would look normal. Unless, of course you knew that the man with the back length brown hair was a Gundam Meister in the organization known as Celestial Being, and that the woman with the silver hair was an ace Mobile Suit pilot and member of the enforcement group A-Laws.

As the woman attempted to sleep, her eyebrows twitched. As she tossed in her sleep, the nightmare plunged forward, unrelenting, causing her to break out in a cold sweat.

~~~Begin dream~~~

"Arios, moving to eliminate the target."

As the words were said, the orange and white aerospace weapon transformed into its Mobile Suit configuration and shot down four GN-XIII. What the pilot didn't see was the Ahead that had broken off from the main attack group to engage him. By the time that he noticed the new blip on the radar, the other MS had already changed its equipment and was using the beam saber. This forced him to do the same.

"I know who you are."

"You know nothing."

"You lie! I know that you are really Marie! Don't you remember? It's me, Allelujah! You were the one who gave this name to me!"

"You lie! My name is Soma Pieres, not Marie!!"

The brief exchange over, the Ahead charged forward to make the killing blow, sword lowered to the level of the Gundam's core. However, the pilot quickly changed the advanced weapon back into the fighter that it had launched as and caught the opposing suit in the grappling equipment that had been mounted on the shoulders, making quick work of the lower half of the Ahead. As the red Mobile Suit plummeted towards the ground, Arios returned to its Mobile Suit mode and hovered, unsure of the fate of its fallen foe. Upon seeing a cloud of steam as the MS impacted the water, the Gundam zipped away, leaving the scene behind it.

~~~End Dream~~~

Marie Parfashi sat upright in the bed she occupied, clutching her head in pain. She had had the same dream for the past three days now, and the only other occupant of the house would tell her nothing other than to just ignore it. There was no way that she could even consider it. This dream was different. It was far too vivid to just be written off as a recurring nightmare. On top of that, the voice sounded familiar. This had been the longest incarnation of the dream that she had had thus far, and she could have sworn that there was some truth behind it. Rather than wake the other occupant, she simply got up and went into the kitchen. Looking at the clock, she was surprised to discover that it was 3 am.

"Why am I always having this dream whenever he's here?"

She cast a casual glance in the direction of the bedroom that she shared with the other person and opened the refrigerator. Deciding at the last minute to just have a glass of water, she quickly closed the door, ending the assault on her eyes that was the light from the fridge. She then went to the cupboard and removed a single glass from it and went to the sink to get her drink. She then sat down at the kitchen table in the apartment and slowly sipped the cool liquid, all the while thinking about the dream that had woken her from her sleep.

Finally deciding to just write it off and not worry about it, she finished drink and headed back to the bedroom, where she quietly got under the blanket and snuggled up closer to her companion. Within minutes, she was sound asleep again.

Upon noticing the pressure on the mattress change again, Allelujah slightly opened one eye and saw the woman he shared the apartment with getting closer to him. Not wanting her to know he had seen, he lay still and allowed her to come closer to him and stay there until the following morning.

By the time Marie opened her eyes, Allelujah had left the apartment. However, there was a note on the door, saying that he had merely gone off to the store and would return shortly. Seeing that he had been kind enough to let her sleep clued her in to the fact that she had woken him the night before. Feeling slightly guilty, she headed to the kitchen and began to gather the ingredients to make their lunch.

When Allelujah returned to the apartment, he could already smell the food that was being prepared through the closed door. However, he knew that this arrangement was only temporary and he would have to return her to who she once was in the end.

~Two weeks earlier~

Allelujah returned to the scene of the battle, dressed not in his Celestial Being uniform, but in his street clothes. He was searching for any chance that the pilot of the Mobile Suit had survived. He had, after all, made her his reason for fighting. When he saw a destroyed helmet on the rocky shore, he was certain that she had been killed. But, to his relief, her unconscious body lay only fifteen feet from the destroyed head piece.

The man rushed to her side and gently scooped her up in his arms. He carried her all the way back to his apartment, where he hoped to help her regain her memories from before she joined the HRL army. Her memories as Marie.

As the days passed, he knew that the day would come when she would remember everything and attempt to fight him again, but he was doing his best to postpone the inevitable. He kept her safe from the military and the world that he still had to enter. And he felt guilty all the while. In his heart, he knew that the time was drawing closer.

~The previous night: Allelujah's POV~

The tension on the mattress lessened and the dark haired man rolled over. Noticing that his companion had gotten up, he figured to leave it at she was getting a drink or going to the bathroom, or something, and closed his eyes again. When the pressure returned he opened a single, sleepy eye and saw her form slowly inching towards him. He raised his left arm and allowed her to move right up against his body. He then lowered his arm, bringing her into an embrace that lasted the rest of the night.

~Present time~

Not wanting the happiness that he had found to end, but knowing that it had to, he reluctantly opened the door and entered, followed by Sergei Smirnov. While the HRL ace was not the best person for the job, Allelujah had been adamant that the older man follow him.

At the sound of the door opening, the woman looked over to see her companion enter, followed by an older gentleman that she was certain she recognized from somewhere. Turning off the heat under the pot, she left the kitchen to go to the living room, where Allelujah and Sergei were both talking.

~End flashback~

In the middle of the desert, Allelujah jumped out of Arios cockpit and ran across the burning sand to the remains of the Custom Ahead. Forcing his way inside, he pulled the battered pilot out of the Mobile Suit. After getting to a safe distance, he dropped to his knees, allowing the other pilot's head to rest on his lap.

"Marie…"

The other pilot winced as she tried to remove her helmet. Not having the strength to do it herself, she was slightly relieved when the restrictive head gear was removed by Allelujah. She forced her eyes open and gazed upon the face of her rescuer.

"My name… isn't… M…Ma…Marie. … It's Soma Pieres…"

"No. Your real name is Marie. Marie Parfashi."

"I know you… you're… you're Subject E-57… no… I remember now. It's Allelujah, right?"

"Yes, that's right. You were the one who gave me that name. You said that it was a word used to give thanks to God. And… And when I asked what there possibly was to be thankful for… you… you answered…" tears were beginning to fill the man's eyes, and he found himself unable to finish the sentence.

"…I replied with…"

The female pilot winced as pain shot through her body. She knew that it wouldn't be much longer until she was dead. The rapidly spreading red stain the torso of her flight suit was evidence of that.

"... you answered… for our being alive… for our meeting each other…" the other managed to choke out between the growing urges to cry. "I… I haven't forgotten those words…"

"And I had…"

More pain shot through her body as she grew closer to death.

"…I had forgotten them. You… it was you… you truly saved me… I… I want you to know… to know that…"

As another wave of pain hit her, she tensed up.

"What is it, Marie? What do you want me to know?"

She gazed up into his eyes, her will to live quickly fading.

"I wanted you to know that I… that I… l… love…"

As she took her last breaths, her bodies went rigid and then limp as the last of her strength left her. With her last breath, she finished her sentence.

"… You."

As her body went completely limp in his arms, Allelujah pulled her closer, in a vain hope that she was merely sleeping. His head then shot skyward and he let out a scream that would have curdled the blood of even the most heartless murderer on the planet. The scream lasted for about a minute, then it dissolved into a mass of tears as he held the woman that he had loved close. Even though she was now gone, he still loved her. He still wanted to be with her.

He got up and walked over to his Gundam. Setting the auto-pilot on a return course, he left a note in the seat for the other members of Celestial Being. After initiating the program and making sure that the Mobile Suit was gone, he made his way back to the soldier's lifeless form. Reaching behind his back, he removed the pistol from its holster. Placing the barrel to his temple, he used his free hand to latch on to hers, and pulled the trigger. As the shot rang out across the barren landscape, he fell on the ground next to her, the blood running out of the wound. As his life left him, the last thing he saw was the faint outline of the Ptolomaius. He closed his eyes and breathed his last.

~Three years later~

Setsuna F. Seiei stood on the cliff overlooking the ocean. While this was not one of his favorite places, he still stood there. As he gazed out over the sea, a small hand reached up and tugged at his shirt sleeve.

"Daddy, momma says it's time for dinner. You should come in now."

The small voice shook him out of his trance. As he looked to his right, he saw a group of familiar figures approaching. He looked down at the boy and smiled.

"Alright, Allelujah. I'll be there in a minute."

Seeing that the child was running back towards the house, the Kurdish man turned to face the visitors.

"Lockon, Tieria, Feldt, Lasse. How have you all been doing?"

"Geeze, Setsuna. Was that little guy yours?"

The pilot of the 00 turned to the speaker.

"Yeah. That was my son, Lasse. His name is Allelujah."

"Named him after our fallen buddy, right?"

Tieria looked at Lockon, his eyes wide.

"Hell no. He named him after a different Allelujah."

Lockon looked back at Tieria, a confused look on his face.

"Really? Which one?"

Unable to contain themselves any longer, Setsuna, Lasse and Feldt began laughing. This prompted the other two Meisters to look over.

"What's so funny?" the both inquired at the same time.

Lasse stopped laughing long enough to answer.

"You two. You guys haven't even been together that long and you are already at each other's throats. How will you guys ever survive living under the same roof?"

Feldt looked up at the older man, the look of a disciplinarian plastered on her face as she slapped him, hard.

"What? What'd I say?"

"Don't make comments like that! They aren't nice!"

Tieria walked over to her and caught her arm before she could hit the man again.

"It's all right. He's not lying. We are together."

At that comment, the pink haired woman went slack jawed and cocked her head to one side.

"So you two are…"

Deciding that the subject should be dropped, Setsuna interrupted before it could be taken any further.

"Let's go inside. Marina is waiting."

As they headed inside, the three Meisters fell back as they felt a familiar presence behind them. Turning around slowly, they could make out the fain outline of Allelujah standing at the cliff, observing the entire situation. As the image faded, they all looked at each other and then up at the sky. While they had been through a lot since Allelujah's death, they had still been able to change the world. The three turned and entered the house as the ghostly image of Allelujah re-appeared and glanced at the building.

He was joined by another figure, who took his hand in hers and then they faded away…

Fin

A.n./ - Alrighty…. I know that I do not normally have to make this warning, but just so you all know: I am not condoning suicide as an answer. This fic was written while listening to a song by Gackt. The song is titled "I Know My Love Can Never Reach You" and is where the title comes from. The alternate title is "Longing for You", which is another Gackt song. Both are very nice, and if you get the chance, you need to listen to them.

Alright. Now that that's out of the way, about the character usage. I know that the whole death thing seems like it was ripped off of Seed Destiny, but I can assure you, it wasn't. It was written completely in my own head. (I spent three days working out the details for this fic.) As you can probably tell, I hold virtually nothing sacred, save for the spellings of names. This is how I write stuff. Also, I know that this is a departure from how I normally write my Gundam stories, but I needed to try something to see if it would work. And, from my perspective, it did. And the spoilers were only… um… minor… I believe. I didn't really go into detail on the weapons or anything like that… it was just minor (or maybe they were major) ruining of the second half of the series for those who weren't able to get the right translation for the Japanese website...

As for pairings: as you could obviously tell, this was primarily a AHxSP fic. At least… until the end, when I alluded to Setsuna and Marina being a couple… and Tieria and Lockon. The later was thrown in for comic relief. And the Lasse/Feldt thing was because I began to dislike the Lockon/Feldt pairing around episode 4 of season 2.

Yeah….

Before this turns into a fifteen page rant, I want to thank my pre-readers, and then say:

Ja ne!

-athrun