The next couple of chapters are a little shorter, so you guys can have a break, mostly.

The Story Thus Far:

The five gundam pilots, reunited after ten long years, 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 has been 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.

Heero, after having nightmares of his daughter dead, tried to commit suicide to send a message to humanity about war, only to be stopped by Akiko's astounding insight and wisdom. Now, the pilots have to sign the contract so they can have ownership of the gundams while they come up with a plan to destroy them. Fear dominates the mood of the pilots, while the politicians taste fame and fortune . . .

AC 206: The Change Time Brings (Part VI)

Resignation to the Unthinkable

Representative Beliv from the United Countries of Western Europe held his hand out. "Ms. Darlian! I didn't think you'd come. We're going to need all the negotiators we can to favor ourselves for this contract. These pilots seem very determined. You know, I didn't think we'd find Heero Yuy at all—"

"I'm with the pilots," she interrupted the presumptuous man. All the new senators were too young these days and came inexperienced in politics. "I don't intend to support you, representative. If you remember, I've been opposed to this from the very start." Rule one: never assume anyone else is on your side. She stalked away, looking for Heero among the press cameras and interviewers.

She found him alone, standing in a dark corner. "This sucks," he told her. "I didn't come her to be publicized."

"I don't even know how the media found out about it. This was supposed to top secret. If I didn't know any better . . ." she drifted off, eying Erik Beliv as he laughed into a camera. As a boy, he'd always loved the attention he got when his father had been killed. "How sick is that?"

"One mystery solved." Heero added, sneering slightly. He hated the man more deeply than she did.

Relena looked in the other direction and saw a news crew heading for them. "We'd better find somewhere else to hide you." Quietly, they snuck out onto a private balcony, though careful not to do anything that, if seen, would be a major payday for the person who caught them. She wouldn't put it past any reporter not to stoop that low.

"Saiai," Heero said quietly, "where's Akiko? She didn't come?"

"She's here. I told her to stay close to someone she knows. She wanted to come watch."

"I'd be a good experience for her, for sure. Can you see her?"

"Yes, she's with Wufei. Don't worry. I don't think any of those boys would let anything happen to her."

Heero groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I just want this to be over with."

"So do all of us," said Trowa, stepping towards them. "That was a good idea, coming out here. You realize they had this balcony scanner-proofed?"

Relena shook her head. "A wonderful coincidence, at least."

"Have you seen Mariemaia? She said she was coming here today." Trowa offered the two of them champagne.

"Is she? I wouldn't recognize her, Trowa. I haven't seen her in ten years!" Relena took the offered glass.

"We should refuse to negotiate with the cameras and microphones around," Heero said. "I don't feel comfortable with them watching and recording what we say and do."

"Quatre's already seen to it."

"Uncle Trowa, there you are!" Wrapped in a green dress that set off her eyes magnificently, a young woman with flaming red hair ran to them. "I've been looking for you for an hour!" She embraced Trowa happily and bowed her head to the others. "Mr. Yuy, Ms Darlian, it's nice to see you again."

"You look beautiful, Mariemaia." Relena returned the gesture. She looks more like Treize Kushrenada then ever.

Heero shook her hand, startled by the same thought.

"Mariemaia! I didn't think you'd be here!" Quatre made his entrance, bowing to the young lady. "It's time to start. I made sure everyone that's going in is being scanned for bugs, no news crew or reporters allowed. The camera in the chamber's been turned off and uninstalled for today. Amazing what political power can do for you. Mariemaia, you'll be sitting with Akiko in the audience section. Will that be okay?"

"Akiko?"

"Oh, my daughter." Relena told her. "We hadn't gotten to that yet, Quatre. She's hanging over there by Wufei, see her? She'll behave herself. She's more mature than you'd think at first glance."

"That'll be fine." Mariemaia went to go talk to the child.

"Wait!" a voice shouted before the doors into the chamber was closed and bolted. A woman came running, dressed in a dark blue uniform. "Lady Une?" asked Quatre, "What are you doing here?"

"Helping out. I just heard about this over the network. This is infuriating. I can't believe they're actually rebuilding the Gundams!" Une panted. "I'm here to represent the Preventers. Sally couldn't be here, though she wanted to."

The others were silent. Relena began to feel uneasy. Heero, noticing, told the guards to let her through. "The more friends we have, the better," he told his wife quietly. "She may make the difference."

Relena grudgingly nodded. Une was introduced to Sophie and Phailin and they went inside.

The five pilots and four women seated themselves at one end of the table. Relena noticed Beliv studying her.

The conditions offered to the pilots were horrible. All of them were appalled. The Gundams would remain under government control at all times, and could only be stationed at authorized military bases. The pilots would be subject to any and all commands issued by any government-employed official— even police officers. The pilots were to perform stunts to impress onlookers, and make media appearances to endorse the stunts as real maneuvers. They were asking five of the most well-known people in human history to become petty actors, puppets of people who, democratically, had no control over them whatsoever. Relena pointed out and several of the audience members mumbled. Her daughter looked disgusted.

The negotiations soon turned into an argument. Heero glared coldly at Duo and Beliv, both of whom were out of their seats, faces red from yelling. The weight of his stare scared the young senator and caused Duo to remember himself. "I would remind you all," Heero said, his voice deadly, "that if we don't like the conditions, we don't sign the contract. I, for one, will not accept a document that takes control of my entire life. I came here to put an end to the troubles in the colonies, not to become a pawn of the government."

"Well spoken," Une praised him quietly.

Within the next several grueling hours, they reached a shaky agreement. The pilots would have control over their individual gundams, no matter what the conditions. The public was not allowed access to them. The pilots would act under the orders and supervision of Wing Zero and Heero Yuy, second in command Sandrock and Quatre Raberba Winner. No weapons would be manufactured for the gundams. Ever. The gundams would not put on "shows" of fighting for people, and would be used only as a symbol to the colony terrorists, as security guards. As the various clauses were worded out and typed up into a contract, all of them reviewed their work. They had left enough worded so that it could be interpreted in different ways, and covered everything they felt was important. Heero shook Beliv's hand knuckles white, both men silent and watching the other carefully. The hostility between them was heating the room.

The media assaulted everyone the moment the doors were opened. One business-like woman shoved her way to the front. "Kammie Exeter reporting live to channel six, London. Tell me, Mr. Yuy, what happened behind those doors?"

Heero ignored her. He, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Relena, Sophie, Mariemaia, Phailin and Akiko all climbed into a black limousine without a word, Relena's old retired butler Pagan driving, as a favor to them all. Standing on the balcony that had earlier masked Heero's doubts, two of the audience members watched them drive away. "It's better they didn't say anything," said the man. "Tensions are high as it is."

The woman agreed. "We have to warn them somehow."

"The question is indeed how," he countered. "Without giving ourselves away. They will be watched carefully by the entire world now."

"We'll think of something," she said. "We always do."

~~@[~*~]@~~

Masao Yuy was enjoying a quiet cup of tea with his wife when there was a knock. "Don't answer it," Megumi begged him. "We just sat down."

Masao stood up. "It could be something important. Remember, those gundam negotiations were supposed to take place yesterday." His son stood at the door, alone, dark circles under his eyes. "Heero! What's happened?"

"Much," he answered. "There's a lot of things we need to talk about, Dad." Inside, Heero began to tell his parents about the past few days. He'd always been able to speak freely with them, and now was a time when he needed their support badly. He continued on about his attempted suicide, and about the contract he'd signed the day before. "I just don't know what I'm doing anymore," he groaned. "My body's so weary from constant time changes and my mind's been fried trying to comprehend it all. I swear, if I didn't have Relena and Akiko and the rest of my friends I think I'd have been dead by now."

"Well, Heero, I can't really think of a way to help. If you want my opinion, stay with your wife and daughter right now. It sounds like you scared everyone badly. Why aren't they with you now?" Masao now looked quite worried.

"They wanted to give me a little time to explain things alone first. Relena told me she was planning on coming here later this afternoon."

Megumi squeezed Heero's shoulder. "Maybe you'd better go take a nap."

Heero shook his head. "No . . . I'll be okay for a while. So, what's been going on up here? Anything?"

"You know us. The rice grows, the sky rains, the paint peels." Masao said, trying to lighten the mood. "No, nothing new besides your news. You know, your face has been on every channel today. The Net has been abuzz, especially the Heero Yuy fan sites. There's been a whole bunch of stuff about you and Relena because you were seen together at the conference. I must say you were playing a risky hand."

"I had to go. I didn't want to, but I needed to show myself; I needed to express my opinion about the Gundams. I did that at least to the people inside the conference. That's all that matters. I know it'll get out from them."

"A very subtle plan. Trying a new strategy?"

"Nothing else would work. Relena's taught me a lot about politics." Heero's eyes glinted. "But it's as ruthless as ever."

"Feels different, doesn't it?" Masao asked.

"What?"

"Thinking for yourself. As opposed to being given orders."

"You lose a lot of discipline during long periods of doing nothing." Heero raised his eyebrow. "Though I think it's a welcome change."

"It's changed you," said Megumi. "I can see it."

"Has it? Maybe that's what's frightened everyone." Heero studied his hands. "I'm such a fool sometimes."

"Don't say that. These changes seem to me to be better, improvements. You said it yourself. Change can scare people at first, it's human nature. Your friends and family will grow used to it. There is nothing lost that wasn't gained in a different form. Your character becomes more admirable all the time. And your silence only enforces that, makes you more attractive and influential. In my opinion, that's the best compliment a person can receive." Megumi hugged her son's head. "You're a beautiful person, Heero."

"Thanks, Mom."

A few hours later, the doorbell rang nine times in succession. Masao winked. "I wonder who that could be . . ."

He opened the door, a small accosting speech about annoyances for Akiko and was met by a sudden blur of black cloth and brown braid. "Dad! It's good to meet ya!" Duo, who'd adopted a nasty habit of greeting strangers with a hug, squeezed Masao around the middle.

Unable to breathe, Masao looked helplessly to Relena. "Ngh?"

"He insisted on ringing the doorbell. Honestly, Duo, shouldn't Shinigami be more dignified?" Sophie rolled her eyes, although she had laughed with everyone else.

Akiko grabbed Duo's leg. "C'mon, Uncle Duo, you're suffocating my grandpa."

"So it wasn't you this time?" Masao asked of his granddaughter, rubbing bruised ribs. "My, my, what a crowd we have today. Welcome! Come in, come in!"

"They insisted," explained a slightly exasperated Relena when Heero gave her a curious look. "They wanted to meet 'the quiet guy's folks.' Hoping for some dirt, I imagine."

"Wouldn't surprise me," sighed Heero. "Wouldn't surprise me at all."

Akiko immediately ran to her father. "Are you feeling better, Dad?"

Heero smiled and hugged her. What a strong child, is she. "Much, thank you."

The warmth of the house grew on the crowd. Late in the afternoon, the women left for the kitchen. "Dinner for twelve," Megumi was muttering. "And I thought we'd have a quiet evening . . ."

The boys continued to talk long into the evening. The fancy dishes were dug out, and a relative feast was conquered. Happily they chatted until finally, as predicted, Heero's parents decided they wanted to embarrass him by relating memories of he and Relena. Sniffing, Megumi said, "that was such a beautiful proposal. Better than his father could do even now, I think. I remember, they were sitting right at this table . . ."

Heero just smiled and put his arm around Relena's shoulders. "Worked, didn't it?"

"It did," she agreed.

"It was Megumi who started to cry, though, as I recall," added Masao, looking at his wife.

"Oh, be quiet," she told him, blushing.

The conversation moved back into the living room, candles were lit and the wine was poured. Gradually the mood slowed to one of well-fed sleepiness, though none would admit it. Heero's head dropped onto Relena's shoulder and she cradled it gently, letting him rest. She didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he didn't answer his daughter's question. She stroked his cheek affectionately. "I think it's probably time to be getting home. It's getting late and I know you don't have the space to house us here. It was good seeing you, Masao, Megumi."

"Ah. You need help?" Masao took Relena's hand and kissed it gently.

"No, I don't think so. Heero? It's time to go home."

Heero groaned but sat up, rubbing his head. "Why'd you let me fall asleep?"

"Because I hadn't realized you had. Anyway, we're going."

They all said their goodbyes and shook hands, and loaded into two cars. The drive gave Heero another badly needed hour of sleep. Like a baby, Relena thought, watching him out of the corner of her eye, though Akiko didn't look any different. Mariemaia and Trowa were quiet, though awake.

I guess it's okay to fell weary now, she reflected, since we've come to a stopping point. I hope everyone realizes what they've gotten into.

"I guess this is our last night together for a while," Quatre told her when she bid him good night.

"Nothing lasts forever. We'll see each other often. Are you leaving early?"

"Probably not, but we'd better get to bed early. There's no telling what kind orders from the government we'll be getting now."

"True," she yawned, and went to bed.

~~@[~*~]@~~

As Heero predicted, his words spoken about peace in the conference chamber spread across the world and into space like wildfire, people being the dry brush. Heero's reputation for being the wisest of the five pilots was only enhanced and many young people who never remembered the war were struck by his words, the older generation reminded once again of how valuable a lasting peace was. Even before the gundams were finished being outfitted for space, the terrorist actions on the outer colonies began to lessen. First impressions last.

Relena made several appearances in the colonies to promote Heero's words, feigning herself as a mutual supporter rather than a background companion. After a month of hard and risky travel, however, she settled into a temporary retirement to await her second daughter, although she kept the rumors of her pregnancy squashed as best she could. She and Sophie visited often, the two women helping each other greatly during the time when their husbands were away.

Phailin, however, remained with Wufei, now officially her fiancé, and the other four pilots. Wufei taught her how to man his mobile suit, much to the anxiety of the government. Heero buried himself in Zero's machinery, masking his intense worries behind sweat and oil and metal. The mechanics that had built the gundam were in fact so impressed by Heero's fine-tuning that they gave him an honorary degree in machine building. Mariemaia, now on a beginner's pilot course at the base where her uncle and the others were staying, was companion to them all during every bit of her spare time.

The day before their first "mission," Duo called a meeting in his room. The five men sat in a loose circle, quiet. "First item of concern," he said after checking the small room for bugs, "is this: has anyone noticed a slight glitch in our plan?"

"The self-detonation devices aren't real," Heero said at once. "I tried to make sure mine was connected the other day. That big scare I gave you guys wouldn't have worked anyway."

The others all nodded in agreement. The falsity of the whole thing was easily noticeable when you weren't panicking about your daughter.

"Perhaps they are smarter than we gave them credit for," sighed Trowa. "Damn."

"At least we won't embarrass ourselves live sometime," Quatre said quietly. "I bet that was their whole intention, to make us look foolish."

"We'll have to figure out some other way to take out these monsters," Duo continued. "Any ideas, Heero?"

Heero shook his head. "Any kind of powerful warhead capable of taking out gundanium armor has either been disposed of, destroyed, or is now in the hands of those terrorists. Not a comforting thought. Sending them into the sun would be a waste of time, would take too long, and would give us away. Putting them at the bottom of the ocean makes them too easily retrievable. I'm out of ideas."

"Great," Wufei growled. "Just wonderful."

"Isn't it?" Duo mock-saluted, hitting himself in the forehead as he did so. "Good-night Earth."

"Hope you fare well," added Trowa. "We won't be of much help."

"Damn bureaucrats— sorry Heero, no offense to Relena."

"Trust me, she's no happier than us."

Quatre, feeling the others beginning to anger, said, "Oh, come on, guys. Let's just try and enjoy being back with our gundams for a while. We won't be in much danger, seeing as how no one has weapons powerful enough to take us out—"

"—Except for the ones we don't know about." finished Wufei.

Duo grabbed the remote control for his television and flipped it on. "Let's see what's on the news tonight, eh? I bet there's gonna be a huge section about the gundam launch . . ."

True to Duo's word, the newscaster soon launched into a long segment about the gundams and pilots. They showed several photographs that were taken of Duo when he was captured, much to the braided young man's displeasure, as well as a segment on Treize Khushrenada and Zechs Marquise of OZ. It was more a history lesson about the war than a focus on why the gundams had been rebuilt in the first place. Maybe they don't really know, thought Quatre, saddened.

Disgusted, Wufei pounded the power button on the set. "We'd better all get some sleep. It's almost midnight. Is anyone making a speech?"

Quatre nodded. "I think we should elect a spokesman for the gundams. Is anyone volunteering?"

"I'll do it," Heero said immediately, "unless anyone has any objections." No one spoke up. "It's settled, then. I've already written something up."

"Just don't kill the crowd," Trowa said. "We've got to keep everyone on our side."

"No problem." Heero left.

"Man," Duo said to the others, "he really hates this, doesn't he?"

"Don't forget, he's got a growing family to think about. As do you, I might add," Trowa said.

"Don't remind me. He's not the only one that's worried."

~~@[~*~]@~~

The cold breeze whipped at Heero's already tousled hair as he stood at the podium. Wing Zero-RB stood ominously behind him, looming over the crowd, its armor glistening in the morning sunlight. Erik Beliv stood off to the side, looking smug. Beside him were numerous men and women, all supporters of the Gundam Project. Heero waited for silence from the crowd, surveying them.

He shuffled his papers and began. "Over ten years ago, war tore Earth into pieces. It all started with the Romefeller foundation, and spread to the easy-going colonies through the Earth Sphere Alliance and later OZ, lead by Lady Une and Treize Kushrenada. The colonies, sensing the war long before Earth itself had, began a project to build mobile suits capable of protecting the colonies. However, after the first prototype was designed, the five scientists responsible for the project split up to construct their own mobile suits, which were then known as gundams. This resulted in a multi-faction fracture that tore the colonies apart. This is when Operation Meteor came into play.

"Operation Meteor was a plan bent on destroying Earth. It hid itself well until Mariemaia Khushrenada's team of OZ followers started another war. The colony that was going to be used was destroyed just in time, raining small pieces to earth in a beautiful meteor shower that, indeed, pacified many who watched it. During the two years in which all this happened, the gundams my fellows and I piloted were first admired, then feared, then symbolized as immortal rebels, again looked up to. The five of us, Quatre Raberba Winner, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Chang Wufei and myself, decided that since peace had been established and the mother Earth and her colonies were calmed the gundams had no right to exist. As was always known, the gundams were feared. They were too powerful, symbols of destruction and aggression. Following our example, all mobile suits were destroyed or scrapped, and the world has since enjoyed peacetime unequaled in history.

"However, it is human nature to disagree, and to fight. The newer colonies, insecure as all of them were at first, have decided that they want to be independent from our single nation. If they gain independence, they may begin to manufacture wartime materials to challenge us. Is this what we want, a new threat to our peace? The gundams were rebuilt as a reminder to all of us what has happened before, to promote peace and justice. We will be using symbolism, rather than weapons to get our point across. As you can see, we have not been given anything to cause harm. I beg of you, don't forget what has caused us to bring such a potentially dangerous thing back into this world. Never believe that war is the only thing to negate the danger we face in these unstable times. That is not what has been asked of me as a pilot, nor my comrades.

"Belief is the strongest thing we have. If you believe we can attain and sustain this peacetime, I ask of you a favor: let everyone know! Don't let the innocent die because you don't think you make a difference. One voice may be all that's needed. It only took five of us—" Heero reached out toward the crowd, and the cheers rose— "to save mankind!"

He was amazed at the reaction. The crowd pulsated with quick, purposeful energy yelling, screaming, chanting, and cheering for him. Rejuvenated, Heero spread his arms wide and grinned, which only caused the cheering to get louder. He saw Relena and Akiko, yelling and waving at him. "Don't lose your belief!" he shouted, and stepped down. He embraced Relena carefully, holding her hand for a minute before climbing into the transport vehicle that would take him to the launch site. A news crew was already making for them. As they drove away, he looked his wife over, eyes lingering on her stomach, which was not yet showing strong signs of their new child. "I'll be home soon," she said quietly, though he knew she couldn't hear him.

"Beautiful, man," Duo told him as the gundams made their way into space aboard a carrier, "really beautiful. You had us sobbing over here."

"I really sensed emotion in the crowd," praised Quatre. "You did a good job. That one's going to stick in people's minds."

"Short, simple and powerful," said Trowa.

"Filled with purpose, clear thoughts. Admirable, honorable," finished Wufei.

"That's enough, guys. We have to go and prove we're not all words," replied Heero, taking the compliments calmly, steadying his hands on the piloting joystick. "You'd better settle in for a long ride."

"Right." Duo slid into the copilot's seat and the others disappeared. "Are you feeling better now? It looks like that speech took a lot off your mind."

"That news report made me think. All the history they were talking about isn't hard to forget. History is taught so mistakes aren't repeated. I wanted everybody to feel like they know exactly what to do."

"Support us in what we're doing, not what others want to do with us?"

"You got it."

"Smart move."

"I know." Heero sat back, the ship on autopilot. "I need to rest for a while. I've got things covered here, if you want to go socialize."

"Now why would I want to do that?" asked an already leaving Duo. He found the others in the rec room, playing chess.

"Coffee?" Trowa asked.

"Better not. I'm hyper enough as it is." He sat down beside Quatre.

Everything was calm. That was what worried Duo most.

*************************************

What's in store for the pilots now? Is Heero's speech enough to persuade the others to stop fighting? Rumors are that war is inevitable, and it seems they're truer than ever when the boys visit the colony. The unrest is easily evident, and yet there seems to be no attempt at stifling it. The next Chapter in AC 206: The Change Time Brings: "When Civil Strife Makes Civil Hands Unclean".