*Whew* Editing all this is a lot of work. This is where things start to get weird, guys, so hold onto your seats. (If you've been reading the previous chapters, you can skip to the beginning of the story from here.)
For those of you who're just tuning in, the five gundam pilots, reunited, have finished telling stories about what they've been doing for the past 10 years and begin once again to worry about the new threat: the Earth Sphere United Nations has decided to rebuild Wing Zero, Deathscythe, Heavyarms, Sandrock and Shenlong because of recent strains in the farthest colonies, clusters L7, L8 and L9. The Preventers, too few to smother the fires that have begun to burn, believe the gundams will only encourage more violence, for they are the symbol of rebellion, and would be feared.
Heero Yuy is secretly married to Relena Darlian and they have a daughter, Akiko. Duo Maxwell witnessed the death Hilde, and, broken, sought comfort in the arms of a woman named Sophie, to whom he is now married and who is expecting. Wufei has forged a connection with a Thai woman named Phailin (Part IV), who is the only woman ever to defeat him in martial arts combat, and who taught him a serious lesson about morality. In turn, Wufei was able to smother her ancestral hatred for the Chang clan.
In this chapter, Heero Yuy, disturbed by his returning nightmares, goes to send a message about war and peace to all humanity. But Heero's message is a deadly one - one that will cost him his life.
AC 206: The Change Time Brings (Part V)
Guilt, Anger and Fear
"We've been together since," Phailin said, resting her head on Wufei's knee. "It's been almost a year now, I think."
"We've all changed so much," said Quatre, eyes downcast in thought. "It's really kind of incredible."
"Ten years is a long time," Trowa reminded him.
Sometime during the story, Akiko had come in and climbed into her father's lap. She surveyed the others sleepily. "I'm hungry," she said.
"Of course you are, it's almost seven. That was a long story." Heero looked to Relena.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but you get to cook tomorrow."
"Fine." Heero cuddled his daughter. He noticed Phailin studying them, but didn't say anything.
"I have more homework, papa," Akiko said. "It's harder than the other stuff."
"We'd better get started, then. You have to go to bed soon. Anyone else want to help? Dinner won't be for an hour or so."
The other six all quickly found excuses to leave, even Trowa, who was probably used to it. Heero spent the hour and fifteen minutes until the meal was called with his daughter. Her homework was finished within ten minutes, but he enjoyed his time spent with Akiko. They were close. Akiko wouldn't stop talking. She talked about school, she talked about what she thought of Heero's friends, and she talked about whatever her father was willing to discuss. She was surprisingly realistic for a girl her age, much like I probably was, Heero knew. When he was with Akiko, nothing else in the world mattered. He was able to stop thinking about the gundams, though he could see them out the window. She was what kept Heero resolved to keeping the peace, even if it meant going to war. If something happened to his daughter . . . but he couldn't bring himself to imagine a world where she or Relena was gone.
The child fell asleep at the table, when her meal was only half-finished. Heero excused himself and carried her to bed. He stayed with her for a while, watching her sleep. Then he himself went to bed.
~~@[~*~]@~~
Relena was a little surprised to find her husband asleep when she at last began to yawn and bid the others goodnight. She stood over him, much as he had watched their daughter, feeling some of the tension in her ease. He looked so peaceful.
Relena pulled back the window curtain and peered outside, seeing Heavyarms-RB lit as Trowa played lookout, relieving the sleep-deprived Quatre. He waved to her questioningly, and she signaled that everything was fine. For the first time this week, she thought. She climbed under the sheets beside Heero and settled into her novel, a political thriller based around the events of the war. There was so much she hadn't known back then that she could have used to her advantage.
After a chapter or so, however, she felt too sleepy and turned out the lights. She snuggled up to Heero, hoping perhaps he'd wake enough to respond, but he was too deeply asleep. The fact that he was, however, getting some sleep (which meant he wasn't quite as worried as he had been the past few nights) comforted her greatly.
She was out within five minutes.
~~@[~*~]@~~
Heero felt his breath sharp in his lungs as he ran across the grassy field. His rasping was almost painful in his chest, but he wouldn't allow himself that.
It was public land, though the military base was in sight. His mission: search and destroy. Annihilate the enemy.
Heero slipped suddenly on the wet sod, and his instinct led him to duck and fall into a roll. His shoulders hit the ground first, then he was flat on his back. How clumsy I am, he thought, laughing. Perfect soldier, indeed.
"Are you okay?" A small voice asked. He sensed someone leaning over him. "Are you lost?"
Heero opened his eyes. A little girl knelt beside him though her face was strangely blurred, a small puppy was sniffing his ear curiously. He sat up and brushed the pet away. "I've been lost ever since I was born," he said, more to himself than to the girl, who wouldn't have understood anyway.
"Oh," she said, confused as Heero had expected. "Well, I'm not lost! I'm taking Mary for a walk!" She reached beside her and picked a flower from the grass. "Here. I hope you find your way home!"
She jumped up and ran away with her little dog. Heero studied the flower, perplexed.
Then, suddenly the sun was setting and preparations were complete. Heero thumbed the detonation switch, and watched, satisfied, as the base exploded. Mobile suits by the score disintegrated and buildings fell to the ground.
Then, as Heero turned to leave the scene, he saw one suit, set apart from the others, stagger back and explode against a city building. It's weight caused the tall office to collapse into its neighbor. Heero watched, helplessly, horrified as the whole city burned.
Heero, filled with irrevocable guilt, stalked the ruins of the once bustling downtown area. He saw a shape lying on the ground; the golden puppy, pink ribbon still around its neck, lay dead among the rubble. Heero knelt and picked it up, his conscience pounding the inside of his skull like a drum.
Then, he spotted something worse. Pale but still alive, the little girl cried out to him. Heero set the dog carefully out of her sight and went to her, lifting a heavy slab of building material off of her body. It was badly crushed. Heero realized that she wouldn't live more than a few minutes longer. He lifted the child into his lap, and she looked at him, tears clearing wide paths down her dirty cheeks. A young life wasted . . . taken from this world too soon, he thought. And it's my fault.
"How," she rasped, crying silently, "could someone do something so horrible to all these people?"
"I'm sorry. Gomen, little one," he whispered, still trying to focus on her features, They remained frustratingly unclear.
"No, it wasn't you, it can't have been. You said you were lost . . ." The child's feeble protest faded into silence and her eyes closed.
Heero realized then what he held was the dead body of a child, an innocent taken by destruction that was meant only for people who had caused other grief. As the futility and hopelessness of war reached him, he held the mangled body tight, as if trying to will his life force into the girl. He knelt and wept, his heart torn, the tragedy fallen upon him like he never remembered it.
Then Heero opened his eyes and he saw her face. It was not the girl who had died that day . . . but Akiko who lay bloody in his arms. His daughter, stolen from him by the oncoming war.
Heero sat up, clutching his chest, the image of his daughter burned on the inside of his eyelids. Relena lay fast asleep beside him, unaware. Heero, panicking, leapt out of bed and rushed to Akiko's room. She was still asleep, hugging her teddy bear. Relieved, though no more comforted, Heero sat by her and stroked her cheek.
She stirred sleepily. "Daddy? Are you okay?"
"I won't," he said. "I won't let you die." His mind made up, driven by his ultimate fear, he left her room and his home.
~~@[~*~]@~~
Trowa peered into the master bedroom but it was empty, as he had expected. "Trowa! What's happened?" Relena, carrying her daughter, ran to him. Duo followed, hand inside his coat, hiding his gun from the child. The others were all gathered in the hall, giving each other worried looks.
"Heero took Wing Zero," Trowa gasped, breathless. "I tried to stop him, but he said something about a little girl and a dog and knocked my systems out." He noticed that Akiko was crying. "What's happened here?"
"She came to me, scared, saying Heero had come into her room acting strange. I— I hadn't even noticed he'd left." Relena held her daughter against her shoulder.
"A little girl and a dog?" asked Wufei, still fussing with his robe. "He's mentioned that before, years ago. I wonder if maybe it has something to do with how he's feeling."
"Do you know of any significance this may have, Relena?" Quatre asked, looking as though he was trying to put a puzzle together with all the pieces turned the wrong way up.
Relena shook her head. "He's never said anything to me, but that doesn't mean much. Heero doesn't like to talk about the war."
"Nor do any of us," Duo agreed somberly. "Were you able to track him, Trowa?"
"Yeah, but he's heading North. I can't tell where he plans to go."
"But we can follow him," pointed out Quatre.
"Not too close. If Heero is able to tell we're following him he may try to knock us down. I don't think he's in a good mood right now." said Wufei. "Is Heavyarms all right?"
"Yeah, it'll just take me a while to get the thing up and running again."
"How'd he disable your main power supply if he didn't have any weapons?" wondered Duo.
"He threw a rock." Trowa said.
"You're kidding."
"No. He found some kind of small boulder and heaved it at me. It hit my main motor, it overheated and I had to shut it down. It's probably cooled enough by now, but the rock worked."
"How very like him," Relena said, half annoyed, half frightened, completely worried. "He always found some way to improvise."
"Well, don't talk about him like you're never going to see him again," said Phailin, stepping forward and putting her hand over Relena's own. "If I were you, I'd chase after him. And take Akiko with you. If Heero fears for your daughter, which I suspect is the case, he needs to realize that the best way to protect her is to be with her."
"Are we going to see Daddy? Is he okay?" Akiko asked sleepily.
"He'll be okay, sweetie, don't you worry," said Sophie, reaching up to pat the girl's head in reassurance. "You boys better go. When you figure out where Heero's headed, call my private phone and tell me. I think we should head to the nearest airport."
Duo nodded and tucked his gun back into its inside pocket. "Sure thing. Let's move out!" All business now, he hustled the other three men and himself to their gundams.
"That's my Shinigami," said Sophie. "We'd better get going too, girls."
"Right." Relena hefted her daughter, her arms beginning to tire. The child was getting too heavy for her.
"Here, would you like me to take her for a while? I believe she's asleep." Phailin held out her arms in offering to relieve Relena of her burden.
"Please. She just gets heavier every day." She handed Akiko over. "And it doesn't help that Heero still likes to carry her everywhere. He spoils the child."
Sophie ushered the others to the front of the house, and then Relena's car. "Well, if you think about it, she means a lot to him. I think what's happened tonight illustrates that point perfectly. You, her, a few friends and some recently acquired relatives are the only things that he has."
"I know. I actually wish he'd say that sometimes." Relena buckled herself in and made sure the others were settled. "The drive into Tokyo's an hour or so. Is your phone on, Sophie?"
"Yes. Let's just try to relax a little, then. We'll know if something comes up. I know Duo'll call me regardless of what happens."
Though the drive was calm, quiet and boring, Relena didn't find herself tiring even though it was the middle of the night. Oh, Heero, what are you so afraid of that you think you won't be able to control? She thought, over and over again. She glanced in her rear view mirror and noticed that two of her three passengers were unconscious, but Phailin still stared out the window.
The woman noticed and leaned forward. "What do you think will happen? You know your husband better than anyone else, I would think."
"I really don't know. It's been ten years plus since Heero's gone through a crisis like this. Last time he started being irrational like the way he's acting now he tried to kill himself. I don't know if he thinks that will accomplish anything this time, but for all I know, he might think it'll freak the government out and get them to terminate the Gundam Project, as it was called."
Phailin looked appalled. "But— He wouldn't do that, would he? Leave his wife and his daughter behind though it's obvious that he loves you both deeply?"
"I don't know what his mission is this time. I don't think he does, either. Heero . . . gets very lost when nothing is assigned to him. A side effect of his lifelong military training, I'd guess. Even now, I have to order him around sometimes just so he doesn't sit around idle all day."
"How can you deal with someone so insecure?" Phailin asked quietly, then immediately apologized. "That was out of place. I have no right to judge your choices or criticize your relationship—"
"No, it's all right. That's in fact the reason why we work so well together. If Heero were anything but the way he is, I wouldn't be able to stand him. He's intelligent, kind and gentile but will also obey me if he knows I'm serious. Same with me. Since both he and I are home a lot of the time, we have to be comfortable with being close to each other constantly, and if either of our personalities was too forthright or demanding we'd never survive."
"Yes. You see, I'd never be able to be around someone like Wufei without a break or at least something I can let steam out of. He's the same way, so we understand each other."
"Something I've been wondering about. Were you really serious about that engagement thing? Wufei seemed a little fazed."
Phailin smiled. "Don't let his expression fool you. We've talked about our relationship now for a couple of months, and I keep hinting that I want to. He knew before I actually said it outright earlier today— Or is it yesterday by now? We play a lot of mind games that, like I said before, are a little difficult to understand if you don't know about our cultures. Because he hadn't refused me right then, I think he's going to make it happen. It's not often he thinks, but it usually turns my way when he does."
"Because, I was just thinking that you two seem great together."
"I appreciate that."
After a moment of silence, Relena asked, "Are you afraid?"
"Of war? Yes. Wufei would be ashamed of me, but I do fear for his life." Phailin looked out the window again. "I'm sure he does, too, deep inside. He's not thick."
The call came when the three women and one child were stepping into the busy airport. "Hey, honey. I think we've got it. We're a long way away and you may be able to get here just about the time we are. You need to catch a shuttle to Siberia, as northernmost and smack-dab in the middle as you can. Hire a private plane at the airport you land at and Quatre'll pick it up and take you guys to wherever we'll be. I'll wait while you're looking for a ride. Call me as soon as you know what you're on and where you'll be going."
"Sure thing. Be careful, Duo."
"We are, I guarantee you. We don't want Heero to blow himself up any more than you four do. Out."
"All right, you heard him! There's lots of lines to chose from. Pick one and start asking questions. Akiko, stay with me, sweetie." Relena grasped her daughter's hand and stalked to the nearest airline consultant.
After going to all the desks, the women met back up and compared. "Asia Continental looks pretty good. They've got some little towns on here where I bet there'd be lots of private planes for hire," Sophie said, pointing to the map on her electronic organizer.
"And the plane is large enough to be safe in unfavorable conditions. I've heard they are getting bad weather up there," added Phailin.
"Shall we, then?" Relena approached one of the consultants Phailin had spoken to. Are there four seats available on flight 029940?"
"Ma'am, that flight boards in twenty minutes. You won't get to the gate in time, and your luggage won't get to the plane, either. We have another flight leaving there tomorrow morning, if you would like to book that."
Relena waved her hand impatiently. "This is an emergency. Are the seats free?
She typed at her keyboard. "Yes, exactly four together in the back. Will you be using credit, debt, check or cash?"
"Credit." Quickly, Relena went through the necessary actions with her card, ignoring it when the girl's eyes widened at the name on it. She was handed the tickets and the four of them answered security questions. They had no bags to check, nothing else to do but hurry to the plane. Slightly out of breath, they collapsed into the joined seats.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Sophie pulled out her phone. "Duo? Okay, we're on our way. We'll be going to . . . "
Relena sighed and peered out her window. It had to be close to dawn now, though the horizon wasn't brightening yet. The last few hours felt like days. Beside her, Akiko groaned and slumped in her seat. "Mama, I'm tired."
"I know," she told her quietly. "As soon as he takes off you can take off your seatbelt and lay down on the seat. How's that?"
"When is he taking off?"
"In a few minutes. Won't be long." Relena stroked her daughter's head, sympathetic though feeling quite awake herself. Phailin and Sophie (after the stewardess had asked her to turn off her phone, quickly telling her husband the necessary information) were both silent and seemed weary. They're not as used to this as I am, she thought
"How do you do this?" Yawned Sophie.
"I'm a diplomat," she answered. "I'm used to being roused at odd hours. I don't like it, but I feel like my job is important."
"Good enough for me." Sophie lowered her voice. "You know, Relena, I've been wanting to talk to you more in depth, and now seems like a good time."
"Hm?"
"I'm getting more and more worried about war all the time, and now that I'm going to have a baby, I don't want Duo fighting. How'd you persuade Heero to do it?"
"I didn't." Relena answered. "By the time Heero and I started to consider ourselves a couple the war was over. Heero never liked to fight, but his soldier's loyalty kept him in there until it was over. I'm worried that he'll do the same thing now, leave what he has behind to fight. I know exactly what you're thinking, though, believe me."
"No . . . you're not." Sophie gasped quietly. "This is bad timing, huh?"
"Tell me about it. Akiko was no better. Found out about her right after I'd left for what was intended to be a long string of trips away from home. I can't tell you how surprised Heero was when I came home not looking quite the same as I had when I'd left. I took the rest of that time off, so I didn't blow my cover, but it was close."
"Does he know now?"
"A joke, right? Of course not. I haven't had time to tell him." She patted Sophie's hand. The young woman was definitely the most fragile of the three. She'd led a sheltered childhood and had never had to deal with the death and destruction that both Relena and Phailin had seen. "Don't worry. We'll figure something out. I think Duo's going to avoid fighting at all costs, now that he knows. I've definitely noticed a change in mood lately."
"He's overjoyed. You should have seen his reaction, though. He looked like he'd just fallen off a truck and was about to be run over by it."
Relena laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
By then, they were in the clouds.
~~@[~*~]@~~
When they landed at the snowy little airport in North Siberia, a man with a beard you could hide small children in held up a sign that said "Darlian Maxwell Aduladej." "That'd be us," Relena told him, and they were shown to the man's plane.
"I was told to take you straight north. Dinna' where you be going, 's nothing there," he said as they boarded the small yellow seaplane. He seemed confused by his situation, but perfectly competent.
"We'll be intercepted in midair as soon as we're out of sight of the airport," Sophie told him. "I assume you can keep a small secret."
"Yes, I keeps secret."
"Great. Thank you."
Akiko, who seemed to have gotten all the sleep she needed on the plane, was now fully awake. The sky was beginning to brighten outside, and she watched out the slightly frosted window with interest. "Mom, it's snowing in the summertime!"
The pilot, Andrew Kruskov, laughed. "It always snow up here, little one."
True as told, as soon as the small airport was out of sight they spotted a yellow-on-black figure waving stiffly. "Follow him!" Sophie said, pointing.
"Right you are."
Quatre led them on for a good half-hour before he signaled the others to land. The radio cackled to life and Quatre's voice came through the ancient thing. "You guys are going to have to land on the ice here. Sorry Mr. Kruskov, but if Heero sees us coming he might do something rash.
"I land on ice all the times, Master Quatre." He set the plane down and sighed. "Gundams again? This sounds bad. I leave it to you, Ms. Darlian."
"Wait a minute, you knew all along?"
"Not until I see Sandrock. The secret is safe with me, Mrs. Maxwell. Quatre is a good friend of mine."
"Ah. That's why my husband said not to worry about the plane. We should be back soon," she told him. I don't think you should follow us."
"No, my plane need to be kept. I await your return."
Sandrock-RB was knelt, hands in the snow. "I'll carry you from here," he said over his radio into Sophie's handheld one. I just talked to Trowa and it looks like things are getting serious over there. It's time to play our aces."
"Patch us in to Heero's interface. Can you do that without letting him know we're here?"
"Audio only." Quatre said.
"That's fine."
"And you have to stay quiet, or he'll hear you." Quatre set the four of them down on a snowbank and approached the other three gundams.
"Don't do it, man!" Duo was yelling.
The pilots watched their friend's expressionless face. He raised a detonation switch for them all to see. "You can't stop me."
"You fool!" Shouted Wufei.
"Are you insane?" added Quatre.
"Heero, listen to me!" Trowa was icily calm, and it was working. "Is this gonna end everything?"
Heero paused, then lowered the switch. "Talk fast, you're trying my patience."
"What do you want to accomplish like this? It can't be that you're just depressed." Trowa's voice was smooth, faultless, emotionless. Quatre remembered vaguely that he'd mentioned doing some criminal negotiations.
"Oh, and why not?"
"Because your life is wonderful. I'm jealous of you. We all are. You're trying to protect something, aren't you? What was that little girl you were talking about? You're worried about Akiko, right?"
Heero didn't answer.
Akiko, who had been listening more closely than her mother had realized, jumped up. "What? He's gonna kill himself because he thinks it'll stop me from getting hurt? Stupid!" She grabbed the radio from Sophie and dashed to the top of the snowbank, where she was able to see Wing Zero-RB. On the comm screens inside the gundams, her small face appeared. "Papa, can you hear me?"
Heero's face indeed showed on the tiny screen the girl held in her hands, but it wasn't recognizable as her father's. He looked angrier than she'd ever seen. "You brought her here to watch this? That's really pathetic, you guys, and I'm not going to fall for it. Akiko, sweetheart, you'll understand someday." He turned away from the screen.
"NO! I'll never understand! I'm not dumb, dad, and I know what you're going to do. You don't want a war, right? If you die, there'll be no one to stop other people from dying because of a war. You and Mom are the ones that keep them from happening, and Uncle Duo and Uncle Trowa and Uncle Wufei and Uncle Quatre, too. You don't want other people to die, but that's what'll happen if you're not here. I know it."
Heero, still in his gundam, felt her words like a slap to the face. He gasped. The detonator dropped from his hand, and he broke the radio connection. The others watched, astounded, as he leapt from Zero-RB and sprinted across the snowfield, a little green, brown and black dot against the pure white. He fell to his knees beside his daughter, gathering her in his arms.
"You're so stupid," she sobbed. "You're not supposed to make me cry. You're not supposed to cry."
But he was. Relena felt her jaw drop when she saw the tears running down her husband's face. He'd never cried before.
"I can cry," he told her.
No one spoke for what seemed like an endless moment. Then, finally, Phailin told Relena, "You've raised an incredible child."
"And she's only six," Relena agreed. She stood. "Heero," she called quietly, "is it over now?"
Heero set down Akiko. "It's only just begun. You know that."
"But are you done here? Or do we need to talk more?"
"We'll talk later," he said. "But now . . . let's go home."
"Just like that," muttered Sophie. "That's one amazing little girl."
~~@[~*~]@~~
Relena leaned against her husband in the hot spring. The water was warm and clear, since it was filtered before being pumped into the bathhouse. She and Heero were alone. Outside, the tundra glistened and shone a bright red under the setting sun.
Andrew Kruskov had shown them the place when she mentioned she needed to unwind. He had flown them all there, and everyone had gone off for some alone time except Duo and Sophie, who were taking care of Akiko.
Heero held her firmly, his skin touching hers as they shared a private moment. They'd been sitting together in silence for some time, needing to say nothing. The steam making him drowsy, Heero rested his head on his wife's shoulder. When it began to get dark outside, she asked him, "What's this about a little girl in a dog? You've made references to it before, but I thought it was just a metaphor until tonight."
Heero grimaced and told her about his memories of the girl and the puppy named Mary. He told her about his dream, and she suddenly understood.
" . . . That's horrible," was all she could say.
"The image of our daughter dead frightened me," Heero said. "That's when I decided I needed to do something."
"I thought we'd agreed a long time ago that suicide wasn't the way to deal with it." Relena was a little surprised. She'd expected a more complex reason.
"I've never been good . . . at controlling my emotions. You know that. You know a lot of things." Heero kissed her shoulder gently, convenient as it was.
"It's nothing compared to what your daughter knows. If the information was true about you being genetically altered, I think she definitely got some of your better qualities."
"But she got your beauty. No, seriously, I was probably a lot like that when I was her age. We'll need to watch her carefully as she gets older. I remember being so insecure . . ."
"We all are, from time to time," she told him. "I'm no exception."
Heero held her tighter. "I suppose so."
After a while, she spoke again. "Heero, you always seem to have all the best timing."
"What's that?" Heero paused. What's she talking about?
"I have something to tell you. It's not been as easy to say as I thought it would be. I think it was a whole lot easier when you could notice it for yourself, but I caught it earlier this time. I want you to consider that now you have a family, Heero, and its growing. When Akiko asked you to stop trying to commit suicide, she was also thinking of herself as well as others. I'm not sure if she knows or not, although she may have overheard my conversation with Sophie yesterday—"
"Where is this going?" Heero asked, slightly lost.
"I'm pregnant again," Relena said bluntly. "What are we going to do? Heero, I don't want my children to grow up without a father, and we came close to just that today."
Heero lifted his head and looked at his wife, startled. "What was that about timing?"
"Something to give life meaning?"
"That wasn't the problem to start with." Heero looked into his wife's eyes. How many times had they saved him from doing something rash and idiotic? Too many to count. His daughter had inherited those eyes. "But then, maybe I was relying on you to chase me down again."
"Likely." Relena put her arms around his neck. She whispered, "That's the beauty of co-dependency. You're not alone."
"I don't like being alone."
"Sounds strange, coming from someone so solitary."
"Antisocial is totally different."
"Not really." Relena drew him close.
"Suit yourself."
~~@[~*~]@~~
"Hey, hey, you two lovebirds. I think it's safe to say that little girl is the most incredible five year-old I've ever met," said Duo, not too loudly because Akiko was finally asleep.
"I can't believe how intelligent the child is. I don't think I've ever read a book that large in my life," added Sophie. "How'd you do it?"
Heero shrugged. "'Get her interested in anything you are and everything you're not. Let her see what she likes instead of giving her things to like. Spend a lot of time with her, and don't underestimate the versatility of her young mind. Let her express her own opinion, even if you disagree. Always tell her what you think so she knows how you feel.' I read that in a counseling book."
"Seems to have worked," Duo yawned. "You wanna go try out that hot spring, Sophie?"
"Sounds good. We'll see you guys tomorrow, I guess."
"'Night." Relena closed the door. And put her arms around Heero, still feeling slightly tipsy, but now thoroughly exhausted. "I think it's time we went to bed."
"Yeah. Tomorrow I've gotta go face a contract." Heero screwed up his face. "Fun."
"I'll be there with you, you know. It won't be so bad. Just remember to get every condition you're comfortable with and don't leave anything out."
"I know." Heero kissed his sleeping daughter and turned out the lights. Oh yes, tomorrow was going to be Hell.
**********************************************
Creepy, huh? It took a lot of thought on my part on this one. Ah, well, at least Heero changed his mind this time around. The fun's just beginning. Next chapter, the contract is signed and the gundams are handed over, and Heero elects himself Speaker of the five pilots. His bitterness is reflected in his words to the world before they set off to have fun at the Gundam Games. Lady Une, a grown Mariemaia and some other characters make small appearances. The next chapter of AC 206: The Change Time Brings: "Resignation to the Unthinkable".