Author's Note: Whew, we have certainly come a long way, haven't we? I have kept my word once more and have completed this fanfic of mine after so long. I'd like to take the opportunity to give out some thanks while I'm at it. First, I'd liked to thank ShadowMajin who sticking with this for so long, you really helped out when I first started. Another thanks goes out to Archsage Soren for keeping me on the ball and evoking the blessings of the Muses. You can only go so far without them. Next I'd liked to thank Knyghtshade for just being here and reviewing, letting me know that some people actually liked this fic.
As for the rest of you, enjoy.
Warning: Spoilers for Gundam Wing. This goes for both the prologue and the rest of the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.
Not Goodbye
Grey clouds covered the sky, blocking the sun from all eyes. Despite the overcast, it seemed appropriate for the occasion.
This occasion was none other than the funeral of Duo Maxwell.
There was no body in the coffin since the body itself was lost in the vastness of space. However, the simple wooden box was not buried empty. Trinkets were placed inside, small objects that the deceased pilot had either enjoyed in life or coveted openly. A stir had been caused by one of the trinkets placed in the box. It was a loaded gun brought there by Chang Wufei of all people. It wasn't until the Chinese man pointed out the scratches on the weapon, identifying the gun as Duo's personal favorite, and the known fact that Duo hated his guns to be empty that it was allowed to be place within.
The other items mainly consisted of decks of playing cards, a few small, handmade braids made of the givers' own hair, power tools and batteries, letters of undying love from many female admirers, and even a C4 detonator that had been snuck in.
Once the coffin was filled, it was closed and nailed shut before being taken to the final resting place: a hill with a clear view of the sky. The spot had been chosen by the Sweeper Howard who told stories of how Duo loved to lie down and stare up at the moon at night. The moon would most certainly be visible from this plot.
It was in front of the large gathering of people, mainly consisting of dignitaries and politicians trying to gain some favor by showing up at such a sorrowful event, that Director Une now found herself. There were few friends of Duo's here and it was easy to pick out which ones were the real ones. Those select people had real sorrow and grief in their eyes.
She could see all the Gundam pilots standing in the front. Quatre had rivulets of fresh tears trek down his face, the blond Arabian not doing anything to wipe them away. Wufei displayed his mourning visibly, though it was obvious he was trying not to shed tears of his own. Trowa was also distressed, though no tears fell from his eyes, Une knew that that was the one thing the unibanged man had wanted to do since he learned of the tragic news but all his tears had been used a long time ago. Heero remained stoic but if one got a good look at his eyes, they would see the grief within them.
There were others besides those four. Zechs stood a ways away. He hadn't known Duo at all and was merely there to give respect to a fallen soldier. Noin was at his side with tears also streaming down her face as she fought to remain in control. Behind Trowa stood Catherine Bloom, only there to give emotional support to Trowa though she was sorrowful at the situation. She hadn't really treated Duo well when they had first met but that was only because she had been trying to protect an amnesiac Trowa. Sally also stood nearby. She also didn't know Duo well, even though he had been the one to spring Heero out of her own medical bay during the wars, but she had fought the same cause as he had, thus was doing the same as Zechs; paying respect to a fallen comrade.
Relena and Dorothy stood nearby as well, the two last people still alive to have seen and been with Duo before his death. Only they could give any info on how Duo had acted before he died, literally being the last ones to have a conversation of any sort with him.
Howard and a fellowship of Sweepers also paid their respects, not to a warrior, but to a fellow coworker and friend, someone who had been family to them, joked and messed around with no matter the circumstances.
And then there was her. Funny, she had spent so much time trying to hunt him down, at first trying to kill him. Now she found herself at his funeral, grieving for him though she didn't know him well either. Yet here she was, speaking his eulogy to a large group of people, many of which she didn't know at all.
But what could she say? Well, there was the truth. Duo had always claimed that he ran and hid but never told a lie so why not be respectful to his memory and just say the blunt truth?
"I didn't know Duo Maxwell," she began. "If you get right down to it, I didn't know him at all. For a long time, he was an enemy of mine, one I had worked to capture for an entire war. He called himself the God of Death, destroying all those unfortunate to be in his path. I have been told that he fought not for peace but for revenge, revenge against those that had wronged him and taken away his loved ones.
"He was only a child when he was made into a killer, created by the old society that was ruled over by the Earth Sphere Alliance, the predecessor to the current Earth Sphere United Nations. We have seen how corruption and human greed almost brought us to the edge of destruction time and again.
"Let us learn this time from our past mistakes. We almost lost the peace that many had striven for during the past wars. Let this be our last Eve War, the last war that humanity has to go through. If we do not learn from this, then there will be another child forced to become a killer, just like Duo was. If his death is to mean something, if his memory is to be honored, then we must make sure that the changes we impose on ourselves, changes that many of us wouldn't want to go through but must if we are to have an everlasting peace, to not be broken. Janus Xavien himself may be gone but there will be others like him, no doubt about it. To ensure that this doesn't happen again, change must start now or we will all be lost.
"Just as Duo is lost to us now."
---
Everyone had left by now but Quatre still found himself before the marker that was suppose to be his best friend's grave, even though said best friend was not physically beneath the earth.
His tears had long since ended and dried up but the marks of their passing still remained on his face. The monument-like gravestone that proudly proclaimed that Duo Maxwell lied before it, six feet under, continued to taunt him with his best friend's name.
The overcast above had yet to change, neither clearing up to let the sun out nor unleashing a hinted torrent of rain. He felt that the weather couldn't have mirrored his emotions so greatly.
Life was over for Duo but not for him. Duo wouldn't want him to follow him into the afterlife. No, that braided fiend would want him to live and enjoy what challenges life held in store for him. And he would but he would not venture too far. He would not return to L4. He wouldn't leave this place where his friend's soul was said to have been laid to rest. He wouldn't leave Duo alone here. In fact, when he had lived out his days on this planet, he would join Duo here, resting beneath the starry sky and the moon that was to present itself here.
"I hope you're not lost anymore, my friend," he said aloud. "Don't wait up for me. I'll come when I'm good and ready. And if it's not too much trouble, do you think you could find a side entrance into heaven? If none of us can get through the front gates, then we're going to need it.
"See you later…Duo."
Turning away slowly, Quatre put one step in front of the other as he began his journey into the light of a new day, one of hope and promise.
One given to him and others by the sacrifices of many.
He was confident that this time those sacrifices were not in vain.
Never would they be in vain.
