Title: Only You
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Characters: Zechs
Note: Written for LJ's adventchallenge Winter Round 2011
Summery: Three years later, Zechs visits Treize's grave.
DISCLAIMER: Neither the characters nor the song that inspired this fic belong to me. All things GW belong to Bandai (I think!). Only You belongs to the Flying Pickets
All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
All I ever knew,
Only you
People called him many things but none had called him a coward. He thinks, deep down in that place no one could read but Treize, that they should have. It's been three years since the final battle, two years since the Eve wars and only now has he managed to dredge up the courage to face the cold marble that's lurked in the corner of every thought of him since he watched... The snow lays heavily over the graveyard, crunching under the tread of his leather boots. It's been here two days and still lays untouched by any other human. In the Capitol thousands of people have gathered together to commemorate the deaths of the soldiers he's striding past but the dead rest peacefully in the frozen ground.
This is gonna take a long time
He still doesn't want to be here, doesn't want to confront the solidity of Treize's absence but he's too stubborn to turn aside now. Someone should be there, today of all days. He's brought roses – a red and a yellow one, entwined together and tied with a white bow – and the thorns he insisted be left on them are starting to prick his palm through the leather gloves. It doesn't matter, and he doesn't notice the small hurts. Zechs breathes in the icy cold and tries not to remember the excruciating embrace of Epyon exploding around him; tries and fails not to imagine how Treize felt in those final moments. Again.
And I wonder what's mine
It's not a long walk to the secluded graves, but it feels like the longest walk he's ever taken in his life. It takes an eternity of two minutes to reach the tree Une told him to look for, and then suddenly there it is. Twin graves, one empty and meant for his remains whenever death feels like finally collecting his soul, the other full and the reason he'd come. There's nothing remarkable about Treize's grave, the blonde notes with an amused but grim smile. He would have approved of that at the same time as being secretly offended by it.
Can't take no more
The snow is freezing as the top ice-hard layer cracks under his knee as he brushes the stone clean to read the inscription. 'Here lies Treize Kushrenada, who died as he lived' and two dates. It wasn't what he expected, but why had he expected more from the new government? He should have known better. Shaking his head he took a small bottle of Treize's favourite wine from his jacket and half buried it in the snow. Abominable to chill such a fine red, but in these temperatures, it was inevitable anyway. He could just see the face Treize would pull at his reasoning; blue eyes dark with irritation and affection equally, distinctive brows drawn in and down just a little, lips closed and thin with disapproval that begged to be kissed away. Closing his eyes against the pang of memory, Zechs sank down into the snow on both knees.
"Treize."
Wonder if you'll understand
He wasn't coming back. It was something he'd known from the moment his friend had said his parting words, but the slab of rock in front of him wouldn't let him ignore it. It stung like an open wound, and maybe that was why he'd survived. They would certainly deserve punishment for blood spilt during the war, regardless of the peace they'd achieved or the wrongs done. It had been a price Zechs had thought he was willing to pay.
It's just the touch of your hand
An icy cold blast of wind brings him back to reality and out of the bloody past. If this was their punishment, was it worth it? Was peace worth it? Yes. It had to be, and he had to believe it. Reaching out to brush his fingers over Treize's engraved name once more, Zechs reached for better memories, trying to recall the warmth of his skin or whether or not the man had ever had a callous on those strong hands in his life. He wasn't sure if the memories he found were real or not, but he held onto them regardless. After all who else had known things like the existence of a bump on Treize's index finger where bones had knitted together messily? Or that he'd broken his finger punching his bedroom wall one Christmas when he was twelve? They were his to keep.
Behind a closed door
He stayed for as long as he could stand the cold, staring past the gravestone as he remembered an entire lifetime no one had known about. Stolen cookies from the Kushrenada kitchen, and later stolen kisses behind the same kitchen when everyone thought they were gathering firewood were just some of the memories he gathered to himself as night crept up on the graveyard. The temperature dropped as the shadows lengthened, and finally Zechs tenderly laid the roses down on top of the snow. He would have to leave, but he could leave both gifts for his brother.
"Merry Christmas, Treize."
All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
All I ever knew,
Only you