Disclaimer: All Gundam Wing characters and references belong to their respective owners. The song Leave Out All the Rest belongs to Linkin Park and the company that recorded it and was used in this story with the best of intentions. Story elements © Hideki LaShae. No money was gained in the writing of this story.
God of Death
By
Hideki LaShae
((( I don't know where I am. I don't know where you are, although I know you're not with me. I see everything as if in a haze, and by everything, I mean nothing. There is nothing in front of me… just things that once were. There are enough corpses in front of me to fill a graveyard far beyond capacity, but this isn't a graveyard. It used to be a city before it was destroyed.
You suddenly appear before me. I've never before seen you look like that. You look… dare I say it… scared? "Duo! Duo! Where the hell are you?"
I'm right here… My voice? I haven't got a voice! I can't speak!
A shadow looms over you and slowly a scythe emerges from the darkness. A hand holds the scythe, and that hand emerges from a hooded robe that the shadow slowly reveals to be… Death! Death follows you as you run, screaming my name, over the lifeless bodies and fallen debris.
Some of the bodies stand up. They don't appear to be zombies, just people who haven't completely died yet.
"Have you seen Duo? Duo Maxwell, have you seen him?" you ask the people, but no one listens to you or responds.
Death swings his scythe at you single handedly, and you fall. He pulls back his hood, and I see myself. )))
I snap awake and bolt upright in bed. I pant heavily as I try to calm myself down.
You roll over in the bed beside me and open your eyes. "I know that sharing a bed wasn't your idea, but it was all the motel had available. Will you please just go to sleep and stay asleep? We have a mission tomorrow, and we need to be well-rested."
"I dreamed I was missing. You were so scared," I say, "You were calling for me, and asking everyone if they'd seen me. But no one would listen."
"Cause no one else cared," you say, "As a general rule, people only care about themselves. Now go back to sleep."
I sigh and lie back down. "Fine. I'll go to sleep. Good night, Heero."
"Pleasant dreams this time, Duo." You close your eyes and roll over onto your back.
***
"Here, Duo. Eat this and let's go," you say tossing me a wrapped breakfast sandwich.
I unwrap the biscuit and inhale the scent of sausage and cheese. "My favorite. Thanks, Heero!"
"So about last night… You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare right?"
"I had a dream last night too. After my dreaming I woke with this fear. What am I leaving when I'm done here?" you ask.
I finish my sandwich as you speak. "With any luck, we're leaving the world in a better place. That's what I hope for anyway… Right?"
You nod. "It's time."
I grab my jacket and pull it on before we head out to the spot where we hid our Gundams. I climb into the cockpit of mine and notice you doing the same. I run my standard system check in record time.
Two Gundams fly into the air and head straight for a nearby weapons manufacturing facility guarded by several OZ mobile suits.
Everything happens so quickly during the attack. That's the way these things normally go, but one moment stands out in my mind… moving in slow motion… A little girl runs out from the factory building, and then an elderly woman chases after her… followed by a middle-aged man. I don't know whose weapons strikes down the woman and man, but I know what kills the little girl…
I kill her. I kill an innocent four-year-old girl. I slice through an OZ suit, Leo class, with my Gundam's scythe, and the OZ suit falls, plummets, smashes down onto the little girl. I see blood… the pilot's blood… her blood… I don't even feel the tears rolling from my eyes.
With the mission complete, we flee the factory.
***
"What are you doing?"
"Did you see them, Heero?"
"A little girl and her grandmother?"
"What do you suppose they were doing there?" I ask.
You wrap an arm around me in what I would almost call an embrace, and your hand finds the TV remote. With a click, the TV flares to life. "See for yourself."
I turn my eyes to the TV where a news reporter tells me that the little girl and her grandmother, pictured with the man who happens to be father and son to them, died while bringing the man the lunch he forgot at home. "Turn it off."
You push the button on the remote to turn the TV off.
All of that for a stupid lunch? Two people, two women who probably have never hurt anyone in their life, have died… because of us! And that little girl… she never even had a chance to really live. She was only four! She was only four! "She was only four…"
"I know, but she's dead now. Get over it."
"Get over it?" I stand up and look at you. "Get over it? You really think it's that easy, Heero? We killed a little girl and her grandmother! Those two weren't soldiers… They were innocent!"
"They were innocent, and they didn't deserve to die. But they have, Duo."
"Heero… do you ever feel guilty about what we do?"
"This is war. Sometimes innocent people get in the way," says Heero.
Aghast with shock over his best friend's words, Duo turns his back on him and starts to walk away. "I'm sorry, Heero. I can't be who you are."
The End.
Leave out all the Rest – Linkin Park