Author's note: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters. Both Zechs and Noin are nineteen years old. This is set during Episode 18. Some of these chapters have been posted before as part of This Kiss.
After Thoughts
Zechs was finding it a rather surreal experience being a prisnor of O.Z. In many ways he felt more like an honored guest than a prisoner. Which was useful when he plenty on his mind. Noin had let the cat out of the bag about his true identity. Zechs understood why she had felt it necessary. He knew that she had been trying to protect him, and he understood why she felt the need to do that. But the news was out now, and there was no way to keep it quiet. Eventually, it would be public knowlegde, and that would change the landscape for him.
Right now, the biggest issues was what O.Z. was going to do with him. Given his recent actions a court martial was definitely in the offing. Even if Treize pulled strings for him, Zechs knew that he couldn't complete escape some kind of consequences. Of course, that was assuming that Treize would pull strings for him. Treize would act in a way that was best for his plans, and that wasn't necessarily in Zechs' best interests. Still, it was hard to figure out a next move without knowing exactly what he was up against.
He wasn't surprised when he was summoned to the ships communications room. Time to see what Trieze had in store for him. As Treize laid his plan, Zechs only kept from sighing by sheer force of will. Treize was offering him a way out, and it would be a challenging fight. But Zechs was also realistic about his chances of surviving such a battle. They weren't especially good. It was the way he'd want to go out there, and it was a better option than a court martial. It was also an honest fight rather than having to worry and wait for someone to try and kill him.
His biggest regret about all this was that he knew he wouldn't have a chance to talk with Noin before this battle. Zechs knew that she would get Relena to safety, but he had no way of sending her a message. He didn't know if he would survive this battle that Treize had proposed, and even if he did survive, that didn't necessarily mean that he would be returning to her side. Quite honestly, Zechs wasn't ready to return to the Sanc Kingdom and to Relena. He didn't know what his next move would be even if he survived the upcoming battle.
But Zechs didn't think he could avoid the battle, and part of him was looking forward to it. He would face this fight, and then he'd figure out what came next.
