To honor and protect - Epilogue
I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no
commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this.
Epilogue
7 years later
Relena ran a brush through her long golden tresses as she looked in the
mirror. She was no longer nervous,
having spent the last of her emotions in those summit talks.
She was empty, but she had won. And
on the coattails of the announcement regarding her final victory, she would
resign her position.
Total disarmament, the treaty declared.
It had been agreed upon by every nation on earth, and all the colony
delegations. The final step to
assure that peace would last. No
more weapons, no more death, no more wars.
She had won. But at what
cost? She was 27, and felt totally
and utterly alone.
She would never have a normal life, but she hoped to do something more
meaningful than becoming a member of the idle rich.
It hadn't been decided yet, her future.
She had talked to Milliardo about a new name, far away, somewhere…. She
had dropped it when she saw how much it upset him.
Relena stood up and prepared to make her announcement. Squaring her shoulders and looking in the mirror one last
time at those hollow, empty eyes she had come to hate, she left her room.
The camera lights were blinding. She
smiled and announced the signed treaty to the citizens of earth and the
colonies. Before reporters could
jump in with questions, she continued on to her own announcement.
"It is my intention to step down from my present position. This new treaty is a culmination of all our efforts for the
past twelve years. I am no longer
needed. New leaders will bring
about a fresh perspective, and take us down the right path for the future of
mankind. Let us embrace them and go
forward. I thank you for your trust
in me all these years, but my work is done…."
Her face was on every video screen in the known universe. People stopped to watch it on the street.
Bars and restaurants fell silent as she spoke.
One man, alone in his apartment switched off the screen and ran a hand
through his dark, unruly mane. "Relena…"
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
It was her first day of freedom. She
was going to the beach. They
didn't give her long, as she was being whisked away for an extended vacation
– a long overdue extended vacation.
The sun was setting, the sky a vision of purple and orange reflecting in
the rippling ocean. Occasionally,
she would look up as if expecting something….
She saw a shooting star drift across the early evening sky. She smiled. Her
face still had
that youthful look despite the expression in her eyes, which had wisdom beyond
her years.
"Heero......" she sighed.
"Where ever you are.....I wish for your happiness."
It was time for her to move on with her life. It had been suspended
from first time she met him.
"Goodbye....."
She bid farewell to the beach and the spot where she first saw him.
She
wouldn't be coming back here anymore. She felt her broken heart fill
with an almost unbearable sadness. Cutting ties to the past were always
hard. This was harder than the time he left her.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked the back and held her head
up high. Enough tears had been shed.
She should
go.
Slowly, painfully, she walked up the steps leading to the road where she
had parked her car. As she grew closer, she realized that someone was
leaning
against the side. A very familiar someone......
The figure took off his sunglasses and gazed at
her. She ran towards him, stopping short just out of arms reach, unsure of
herself, of him, and why he was there. She looked up
at him silently, watching him....waiting....
He stepped forward, and pulled the
small black box she was holding out of her left hand, his eyes never leaving hers.
"I came to say goodbye," she whispered,
"but I couldn't…" she shook her head.
He opened it and delicately picked up the beautiful diamond ring that had been
hidden in the worn velvet box. He
slid it on the ring finger of her left hand, his eyes asking the question.
Tears slid down her cheeks, and he pulled her close into a tender
embrace.
"Yes," she whispered in his ear.
He closed his eyes and held her tighter.
**The End**
