One

Excelcia Hiroshi

            NOTE: This fic is based on the song 'One' by Creed.  Incidences from Wufei's past are incidences that I got from the episode zero manga.  They might not be completely accurate because I had to infer what happened from looking at the pictures (I can't read kanji.) The author of this fic does not own Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing or the lyrics to this song.  Copyright Sunrise Animation and Creed.

            Wufei stood on the cliff overlooking the sunset on the Yangste River, completely lost in his thoughts.  However, he wasn't thinking about his next mission, or the problems that had recently arisen with the introduction of the new mobile dolls in combat.  No, his thoughts drifted to a time before the war, before he was chosen to operate the Shenlong Gundam.  She was beautiful, vibrant and full of spirit, but he refused to accept her into his life, even though they were married.  Meiran was persistent.  Wufei remembered the day that she challenged him to fight, calling herself 'Nataku'.  She had wanted to prove herself to him as a fighter.  He simply defeated her and left her alone in the pouring rain, her eyes overflowing with tears of anger.

~Why did I treat her like that?~

He balled up his fists.

~Why did she care so much?~

Affirmative my be justified

Take from one, give to another

L5 was under attack by space Leos.  The colony shook with each blast that hit it.  Meiran ran into the hangar in which the nearly completed Shenlong gundam and Tallgeese were housed, clad in a space suit and a helmet under her arm.  Master O tied to stop her, but she refused to listen and took the Tallgeese into combat.  Wufei got there in just enough time to learn what had happened before he set out in Shenlong after her.  The Leos were putting up a pretty good fight, but the Tallgeese was too much for them.  Consequently, it was too much for Meiran as well.  The pressure built up from the vernea output of the suit was slowly crushing her inside.  Wufei reached the battle site and immediately started hacking away at the suits.  By the time that he reached the Tallgeese, however, it was too late.  Meiran had already begun to cough up blood.  He put her behind him and asked her what she thought she was doing out here and told her that she shouldn't be fighting.  Before she could answer him, a Leo went on the attack. Wufei fired the prototype cannon for his suit.  Nothing happened. He was completely open to attack and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. Meiran hit the thrusters on Tallgeese and sent it flying headlong at the Leo.  Wufei watched in horror as both suits exploded in a flash of white, hot light.  He frantically searched through the wreckage, and finally found her floating among the debris of the Tallgeese.  He scooped her up and took her back to the colony. 

He carried her to her favorite spot, an area of L5 that was not developed where the wildflowers grew in many vibrant colors. They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours.  There was nothing he could do to help her; she was bleeding internally and there was no way to stop it.  She laid her head on his shoulder wearily and told him not to regret what happened because she didn't.  She said that he was a much stronger fighter than she was and he should continue to fight.  Wufei was speechless.  He finally understood why she was persistent before.  She understood him and wanted to help him in anyway she could.  Even if meant giving up her life for him.  She loved him and, just then, he realized that he loved her as well.  He smiled and rested his head on hers. 

He lost a part of himself that day; a part that, since then, has not been replaced.  Wufei hung his head and stared as the last sliver of the sun dipped beneath the horizon.  Meiran had given the ultimate sacrifice to save his life, and he had treated her badly. He never forgave himself for that. She was buried on the spot where she died and he would go visit her as often as he could.

Then, the war started.

The goal is to be unified

Take my hand, be my brother

            L5 was unified against their oppressors from the start and had more or less kept militarism out of the colony.  After Wufei escaped the moon base with the Altron, he headed back home.  Their unification and sense of pride seemed to fuel his inner strength.  They agreed to take him in and help add the final modifications that would complete his gundam.  He spent weeks training to become stronger on order to fight OZ and Romefeller.  It was only about a month after he arrived that the troops at the nearest Lagrange point decided to invade and take over the colony.  However, they hadn't counted on encountering a gundam when they attacked.  Wufei destroyed the three suits that infiltrated the inside of the colony. He then headed outside to take on the rest.  The family elder saw that Wufei was hopelessly outnumbered and made a very difficult decision.  He initiated the colony's self-destruct mechanism.  Wufei listened in disbelief as the elder gave him his final words of advice: Remain true to your own sense of justice…

The payment silenced the masses

Sanctified by oppression

With that the colony L5, his home, disappeared in a flash of light.  The resulting force of the explosion destroyed the remaining mobile dolls and sent him careening in a backwards direction.  He stared at the now vacant space where his home once was.  It had happened again.  Something he cared deeply about was sacrificed to keep him alive.  He couldn't take it anymore.  He let out a cry of pure rage and vowed from then on to rid outer space of all weapons, alone.

Unity took a back seat

Sliding further into regression

That's how it's been ever since.  He continues to fight alone without the help of others, even the other gundam pilots.  He took a battered black and white photograph from his pocket, one of his only possessions from home.  He looked at the bright, shining eyes of Meiran in the portrait of them and their families at the wedding.  He put the photo in his gundam and kept it there ever since Meiran died and he left for Earth.  He was surprised at how good a condition it was in considering all that he'd been through.  He sighed and placed the picture back in his pocket.  There was nothing for him now. No family, no friends, no life beyond being a gundam pilot.  So why did fighting leave him feeling so empty?

One

I am a warrior… Oh one

…against OZ.

The only way is one.

I will continue to fight for my own sense of justice… One

…by myself.

Oh one

Wufei looked up at the harvest moon with a expression of sorrow on his face.  Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he threw his head back…

The only way is one

…and screamed into the wind.

I feel angry, I feel helpless

Want to changes the world

I feel violent, I feel alone

Don't try and change my mind. No.

            The next day, the spaceport near Hong Kong was attacked. A cargo ship blasted off and rocketed towards the stratosphere.  Wufei looked at the earth falling faster and faster beneath him.  He had gotten word from Missions that Romefeller had started a beta factory for the production of Virgo suits on an old resource satellite in the L3 area.  He was going to take it out by any means necessary.

Don't try and change my mind.