Title: Within the Light
Author: Karina
Rating: PG
Pairing: Zechs + Treize
Notes: Challenge 15 . #48 in the Baby Series. Takes place at the same time as If We Stand Together.
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the Characters from the series but the baby is mine.
Many thanks to Dulin for her work as beta.
Within The Light
"No more war. No fighting. No bloodshed."
The dry nothingness was replaced by a gentle light filled with heat that did not burn, but offered comfort in which to rest. Within the light the touch of a hand, fingers entwined with his own, the press of a warmer body against his back.
"That was the intention behind the crafting of the war." Low, rich voice awaking such yearning within him that he would weep if he did not fear such weakness would send the presence fleeing from him.
"I thought the peace would last. Not forever, I'm not such a fool to think that … but I did presume more than a few years. What did we fight for if peace can't endure?"
"It has not failed, and there is no reason that it should. From some few talented individuals a measure of sacrifice is asked."
"I … We … did that already." A whisper, tinged with fear. "You died. I should have died."
"Why should you have died?"
"Treize … I wanted … you."
"You have me."
"Alive in the aftermath! Not this cold and lonely way. They call Relena the White Dove of Peace. Are they blind? It was you who made it possible for there to be peace, and they credit not you but my sister for the future that even now they are destroying."
"Ah, Milliardo. It matters not who crafted this peace. There was a White Dove, my Warrior. What matters is not who the Dove was, but who is the Dove now. Do you know that there may be an entire flock of Doves, all as white as the purest snow, but only one of them may lead that flock."
"Don't."
"I must. It is only the truth. The days of solitary sacrifice are done. Now flocks of doves are needed to preserve the peace. Each dove has its place in the flock, its specialty. There must be a leader."
"A figurehead, wings tied together so it may never fly, its heart broken …"
"Let them loose your bonds, as I loosed you on them once before. You are a White Dove. You are the Soldier who preserves the peace. You are the one who fights, so that the people might know rest. You are a guard at the door for the masses, and does it really matter if they understand? The task needs to be done."
"Please. No."
"Look how you shook the world in opposition to each other. You and Relena. Peacecrafts. Is it not time now for you to shake that world again? By standing together?"
"… Will you not help me? Will you become a White Dove as a Peacecraft should?"
Whispered words seeping through the light, and he shuddered under their caress as much as the comforting hand.
"Relena."
"Will you not join her and together lead the way to enduring peace? For your son. For others. For you? Will you work for Peace?"
"With all that I am."
End
Karina Robertson 2005
