DISCLIAMER: None of the Gundam Wing characters are mine, aside from Kumi Yuy and Sette Devion! ^_^
Author's Notes: To my friend Sam, Thank you for the ideas hat you have given me for this story! You helped make writing this so much easier! Thanks again!
As always, I cannot thank all of you enough that have reviewed and supported this saga! It's a lot of work, but it's worth it thanks to all of you! I hope that you like this next episode! Have fun! Love, SkyLark
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 22: The Heart and Soul of Outer Space
by SkyLark
with help from: Snodin, Traci, Sam, Stormy, Sky and Beekay
In an office on one of the countless OZ carriers, Quinze Khushrenadah looked to the reports of the Gundam pilots that he had gathered. Stacy Stanton peeked in after knocking as she opened the door. Quinze smiled to her, "Come in, Stacy. I was just looking through some files."
Stacy walked to her the OZ leader's desk and looked to the papers spread across its surface. They were the mug shots of the Gundam pilots attached to the records that had been found on them. "I can't help but find all of them intriguing," the young man said out of nowhere. "For such a diverse group, they work as if they were one being."
Looking to Heero and Kumi's images and reports, Quinze said quietly, "I wish that I could have known Doctor J when he was alive. I'd love to know how he was able to forge these two pilots." Stacy asked, "Even though he was killed by his own creations?" Quinze laughed and nodded, "The man was a genius, regardless of how he was killed. He wanted to make the 'Perfect Soldiers' and he succeeded." Holding the two reports, he thought aloud, "With no records of what training he gave them, there's no telling what it takes to make the ultimate weapon."
Stanton shrugged and turned to walk out of the room, "I understand your respect for Doctor J. He did make two incredible pilots. But everyone dies eventually. Heero and Kumi won't live to see the end of this war." She left as Quinze continued to look to what little information he was able to gather on the two pilots. "This is true," he smirked to the images of the 'Perfect Soldiers.' "All good things must come to an end."
* * * * * *
It was a week since Wufei's return to Pulsar and his friends. Sera Makato couldn't sleep tonight. On the ship carrying her and the Wing pilot, she rose from the bed in her small room. Wrapping a red robe over her nightgown, she stepped out to the hallway.
Heero's room wasn't far from her own. Walking there like this, as she did every night after the Wing pilot would to retire for the night, she sighed deeply. Soon, the Preventer was standing before the closed door of the pilot's room. Biting her lip, she turned the knob very slowly and quietly.
Peeking her head in very carefully, Sera looked in to see her son sleeping. Heero's bed was right across the way from the door. He was covered in the pale blue seat from mid-chest down. The Wing pilot was lost in sleep at this point and unaware that he was being watched. Sera was already aware of the tattoo on her son's back, since she watched him like this many times before.
Heero was lying on his left side with his right arm stretched out before him as if reaching for something that wasn't there. Sera had come to the conclusion that he slept like this whenever he wasn't sleeping with Duo. He was reaching out for the braided pilot. The scene was as precious as it was heartbreaking.
After a moment of watching her son sleep, Sera frowned and closed the door behind her as she slipped out again. Staring to the door and resting a hand there, she sighed deeply and lowered her head. "What have we done, Odin?" she whispered sadly. A small tear rolled down Sera's right cheek on cue and she brushed it away. The Preventer walked back to her room and wondered what her son had been through the last twenty-two years.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
Five-year-old Odin Lowe Jr. was now in the care of Doctor J. The man was driving the boy to the place he would be calling home for the next eleven years- the base where he was to be trained. The young child looked out the passenger seat window of the black car as the old man took him through the desolate countryside of L1.
Not long ago, the boy held Odin Lowe as he died in his arms. The man was the only father figure that the child knew. He was thinking about him now, as he watched the scenery. Odin stayed silent as the driver with the mechanic arm and leg drove.
"We're almost there," Doctor J finally said. The child looked to him with uncertainty, not knowing how he should feel about this Doctor J. He was very strange and something about him sent chills up the boy's back. Odin just looked ahead again, silent as ever. Soon, the black car drove through two huge gates that opened for the car and quickly closed once the automobile entered.
When the car parked, a little girl, five-years-old with dark brown hair and cobalt eyes walked to the car alone. She looked up to Doctor J as he stepped from the car. He saw the little girl and gave a nod. He held a hand out to the boy inside the car. Odin was soon standing before the girl and looked to her in confusion. The girl gave him the same look. They could have easily passed off as twins. Doctor J chuckled deeply in content as he looked to the pair.
The doctor got on one knee next the two of them and turned to the boy. "Heero, this is Kumi, your cousin." Turning to Kumi, he stated, "Kumi, meet Heero. The little boy looked to Doctor J in shock. "My name is Odin," he said quietly. Doctor J sneered and shook his head, "You're not Odin Lowe Junior any longer. You're Heero Yuy from this point on."
When this was said, there was a fifteen-year-old boy walking past the kids. He was tall and very muscular for his young age. He was covered in bruises and looked like he could easily kill anyone that crossed him. As he walked past the children, he glared to the both of them with an ice stare from his green eyes. Heero's eyes widened in fear from the strange appearance of the young man.
The teenager walked on, taking his dark stare with him as he headed to the dormitory. Doctor J chuckled deeply to the frightened children before him. "That's Marcus. Don't worry, he won't be alive much longer to bother you. He was a test." Kumi and Heero gave the doctor a look of uncertainty and confusion. "You'll look just like him when you're his age. But you won't be the disappointment that he has been. I'll see to that personally," the old man informed the kids as he rose.
"Dinner is in an hour. Don't be late." Looking to Kumi, Doctor J said, "You know where you need to go to eat. See that Heero knows where to go." The girl nodded, "Hai, Doctor J." The man turned and said, "I'll let you two have this time to get to know each other. You'll be working together very closely while you're here." At this, he walked away from the children he chose to become the 'Perfect Soldiers.'
Heero and Kumi just stood silently as they looked to each other in silence, not knowing what they were to say or do right now. Heero finally broke the long pause and asked, "Are you really my cousin?" Kumi nodded, "Hai." There was another pause between the children and Heero asked quietly, "Are you scared?" His cousin nodded with a sad glance and whispered, "Hai." Heero nodded and whispered back, "I am, too."
(End Flashback)
@ @ @ @ @ @
(New Flashback)
Ten-years-old now, Heero and Kumi were using a virtual-reality machine to work on her aiming abilities. They were already working quite impressively as they hit every target, even with countless wires and sensors over their small bodies, measuring their every move. Doctor J was watching closely in the observation room. "That's it," he sneered evilly as he was more than pleased with the progress of his pilots.
The system was extremely lifelike as Heero and Kumi took out targets of all kinds. "Kill anything that moves," they heard the doctor's voice shout again into her head set. The children did just that. Nothing was spared from the young soldiers. Without blinking, they took out any and everything that was there, working their hands and arms to match the synthesized actions on the screen.
Just as Kumi was about to complete one of the highest levels of the system, Doctor J typed a new order into the system. "Let's see how she does with this," he chuckled deeply in anticipation. The command went through and Kumi was waiting for her next target to arrive, after killing several targets of OZ soldiers. Just then, the image of a little girl, her age came from behind the realistic scenery of the woods.
Kumi gasped and she froze instantly. The little redhead was smiling and picking flowers, singing and placing the buds in a small basket that she carried with her. Seeing Kumi, she stopped and dropped the basket as she looked to her in terror. "KILL HER KUMI! PULL THE TRIGGER!" Doctor J screamed over the headphones. The young pilot's hands began to shake as she pointed the gun to the girl's head. "I...I..." she whispered brokenly, lips quivering.
Heero was beginning to sense that his cousin was in trouble as he stopped concentrating on his own test. He lowered his gun and removed the visor that brought the lifelike images. Only then was Heero able to see his cousin's shaking body, visor and sensors on as she struggled with herself to shoot her target. He began removing his sensors and wires as he made his way to the girl, calling, "Kumi?"
With a small whimper, the Kumi dropped the gun that she held and fell to her knees. She removed the visor from her eyes and began taking the wires and sensors that were on any exposed skin, with Heero's help when he reached her side. Kumi didn't know if she should be disappointed or relieved that she didn't kill the girl, whether she was real or not. It just seemed too real, no matter what the case was.
The door behind them opened and the children heard the scientist enter quietly. The girl turned to say something to apologize. The second she was able to look up to the old man, he whacked her square across the face with his metal hand, sending her reeling across the room. Heero was hit just the same as he crashed into the wall to on the opposite side of the room. Kumi was too stunned to feel the real pain that the blow caused as she looked with wide, frightened eyes to the doctor. Heero was in the same position as he sat up and watched the man advance towards his cousin like a wild animal lurking onto its prey.
Neither child allowed a tear to fall, having been taught early on that tears were not to be shed at any point, unless they wanted to be punished even more severely than they already were. By now, they never felt the urge to cry. Kumi rose and was prepared for the worst, head lowered as she held her breath. The scientist leaned down until their noses were practically touching. "You failed your test, Kumi," the old man growled deeply.
The girl nodded and accepted the next sharp, swift blow to come across the right side of her face. This time, only her head snapped to the side, and she never allowed even a whimper out. While this pleased Doctor J, he was not satisfied that the girl understood the situation that her failure put her in. "You need to realize that when you fail, others are affected along with you."
Before either child could blink, Heero was approached by the man and given several blows while a guard standing outside entered and held the boy up. Kumi's eyes widened as she was forced to watch her cousin being beaten. Once his face bore several bruises and cuts that would last a good week, Doctor J looked back to the girl. "Do you want to see him suffer any longer?" Kumi shook her head quickly, biting her lip to prevent any whimpers.
Finally pleased that he made his point, Doctor J nodded to the soldier. Heero was released and the young man who restrained him left again. The boy kneeled and lowered his head, the way that he and his cousin were to after their beatings to show their subordination to the old man.
Walking to Kumi one last time, the man stated, "You cannot allow yourself to feel sorry for your targets, no matter how young and innocent them may seem." He proceeded to whack the girl several more times, giving her bruises that matched those of Heero. When the punishment was over, Kumi lowered herself onto her knees and lowered her head. "Go clean yourselves off," the man ordered as he walked to the door.
When they were alone, Kumi and Heero crawled to meet in the middle of the room. The girl looked to her cousin's wounds and whispered, "I-I'm sorry, Heero." The boy smirked and said quietly, "I'm proud that you followed your feelings. My father-" The young boy stopped his words and lowered his head as he continued, "Odin taught me to follow my emotions." Kumi nodded, though she never knew anything other than the base where she and Heero lived and trained now. She had been here as far back as she could remember.
Heero stood first, placing a hand to his face to wipe some of the blood that remained from the marks on his cheeks. Kumi rose as well and didn't bother to wipe her face yet. "We better hurry and get cleaned for the next test," Heero told the girl. She nodded, "Yea." They left the room quickly to do just that.
(End Flashback)
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Present)
Heero walked from his room, fully rested and changed. He entered the small hanger of the ship, where Sera was looking to the equipment and supplies that they were relying on to reach the Colony that Heero needed to find to accomplish his mission. The last few hours, she was able to catch up on the rest that she lost the night before. Looking to her notes that she made while counting the provisions, she told herself, "We'll have to make another pit stop to stock up on some of these materials." It was then that her son found her.
Sera gave a small gasp, not knowing that her son was behind her until she turned around. She smiled warmly, "Ohayo, Heero." The Wing pilot gave a small smile and nodded, "Ohayo, Sera." The Preventer asked, "Is everything all right?" Heero replied, "Actually, I was wondering if I could ask a favor." Sera nodded, "Sure. What can I do?" Her son answered, "I was wondering if you could channel a signal to Kumi for me."
Not expecting to hear this, the Preventer's eyes widened and a small gasp left her. Before Heero could sense her real shock, Makato smiled and nodded, "It'll take a few hours to patch through. And you'll only be able to speak for a few minutes. That's why we need these missions completed. But, I'll work on finding her now." The Wing pilot replied sincerely, "Arigato." Sera nodded and floated to the door as she made her way to the cockpit along with Heero.
Heero watched as Sera worked at the monitor silently in the back of the room, hoping that she would be able to get through to his cousin. It had been months since the two pilots spoke or saw each other. Since they were all they knew for so many years, Heero couldn't help but be protective of the silver-haired pilot. And Kumi was the same when it came to the Wing pilot.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
Twelve-year old Heero Yuy walked down the empty corridor of the base where he and Kumi were under Doctor J's influence. He was in the same clothes that he was always given to wear, green tank, black spandex shorts. He snuck past several guards of the facility and made it to a door that was far from any others. The Wing pilot ran to the door and knocked a secret code- three quick, two slow. The door quickly opened as a slender hand shot out and wrapped around his right wrist. With a small smile, Heero was pulled like this into the room.
Kumi was biting her bottom lip as she quickly closed the door behind Heero when she yanked him in. Her hair was as dark as her cousin's at this time, same shade and all. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and fell to her waist. The Excalibur pilot wore her purple tank, black sports bra and dark brown spandex shorts and smiled warmly to the Wing pilot as she sat Indian style on her bed with her cousin sitting the same before her in less time than it took to blink since she pulled him in her room.
Holding back the emotions in her as best she could, Kumi asked in an anxious whisper, "So how was it out there?" Heero couldn't help but give a small smile and whispered back in awe as he recalled him first time out of the base since he first arrived, "It was incredible. I never thought that there were so many beautiful things on this colony."
The Wing pilot looked to Kumi and sighed quietly, "I wish that you could have been out there with me. Thank you for staying here to distract the guards and Doctor J while I got out." Kumi chuckled and shrugged, "It was worth seeing the pissed looks on their faces when I set off the alarms in the main plant." Heero laughed quietly at the thought of those faces.
Still curious of everything that happened, Kumi went on asking questions. She had never been past the base gates and was more than happy to at least help her cousin have his chance to see what the colony looked like beyond them. Heero was more than happy to answer every question that his cousin had. He just wished that she didn't have to stay behind while he got to have a taste of life for a moment.
"Did you have any trouble getting out?" the female pilot asked. Heero shook his head, "The only good thing about this training is that it helps us out with things like jumping over fences like that without any trouble." The girl smirked, "Guess this experience has it's good points after all."
The young girl then noticed something in Heero's hand. it was a small yellow flower. "Where did you get that?" she asked as she pointed to the bud. Heero looked to the flower and held it to his cousin and answered, "A little girl that I met out there gave it to me. She couldn't have been more than five or so. You can have it if you want." His cousin smiled, but shook her head, "No. it was a gift. It wouldn't be right for me to take something that had been intended for you."
The Wing pilot gave a small smile and looked to the flower, "I never was given anything before." Looking to the clock on Kumi's desk beside the bed, Heero's eyes widened for a moment. Seeing his expression, Kumi looked to the clock to see that it was almost ten o'clock. She said quietly, with a hint of warning as Heero rose from the bed, "Better get running for that mission of yours." Her cousin nodded, "Yea. The explosives are already in place. All I have to do is detonate them. It won't take long at all."
Turning to the girl as he walked to the door, Heero waved with his free hand, "I'll see you in a few hours, Kumi." She smiled back and waved as the door opened, "Good luck, Heero." The Wing pilot nodded before leaving and running down the hall, still holding the flower tightly in his left hand.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Next Flashback)
Several hours later, Kumi walked down the long hall of the main facility. "Retrain him at once! Any human emotion such as kindness is unnecessary for our weapon!" Doctor J's voice shouted from behind the closed door that she reached. "You're right about that," she heard one of the guards say, "But would Heero Yuy be pleased if we bury his humanity?"
The pilot's eyes narrowed as she continued to listen in. Doctor J continued in a thunderous voice, "I don't care what we have to do! Heero and Kumi cannot be allowed to feel any emotions! They are weaknesses and nothing more! Do whatever it takes to wipe every emotion possible from them!""
The dark-haired girl bit her lip as she felt her heart stop. Something went wrong with Heero's mission, she realized. Running through the base, she reached a closed door far from any of the other rooms. She gave the secret knock- three quick, two slow. The door opened by remote and she walked inside quietly. The door closed behind her as soon as she entered. Heero was lying on his mattress, on his stomach and head turned away from her. "Heero?" Kumi asked in a small voice. Her cousin never looked up to her.
Taking a deep breath, the girl walked over to the mattress and lied there on her side. Kumi stroked Heero's hair and whispered, "Heero, what happened?" After a pause, her cousin knew that he couldn't answer. Instead, he turned to lie on his right side, still looking from the only family that he had.
Kumi crawled up to lie right behind him and wrapped her left arm around his waist. Timidly, Heero took his left arm and hand, folding them over Kumi's in a gentle embrace. They never hugged before and this was the closest thing to it that they ever came.
There was another pause, then finally, Heero took a deep breath and said in a small voice, "I killed an innocent." Kumi's eyes widened as she gasped quietly. Heero turned to lie on his back, with his hand still holding Kumi's.
While he hadn't been crying, Heero's expression was the saddest and closest to tears that Kumi ever saw on him before. It was at that time that she looked to the desk on Heero's side of the bed. On the wooden surface, the yellow flower that the girl had given Heero lied, dead and crushed. "H-Heero," was all she barely managed to whisper sadly as she lowered her head.
Heero sat up along with his cousin, their closest thing to a hug broken. Their cobalt eyes locked and the Wing pilot asked quietly, "Will you help me bury Mary?" Before his cousin could ask, Heeo pointed to a small, closed shoe box resting on the chair next to the table with the dead yellow flower. "The girl's dog," he explained in a small whisper, not looking to see the other pilot's face. There was a huge knot in Kumi's stomach. She nodded after a brief pause, "Sure."
Heero seemed to calm a bit when she said this, though he didn't let off to much of what he was feeling to begin with. He looked to the small box where he placed Mary. Then, he stared at the dead flower on his desk. "I don't even know how I should really feel right now. I'm not sure what emotions I have that I should follow." Kumi's eyes widened for a moment as there words made her recall the conversation she overheard prior to coming to Heero's room. Doctor J wanted the pilots retrained and robbed of any feeling that they still managed to hold onto.
With a small sigh, Kumi replied, "It won't matter before long." Heero's eyes widened as he turned to face her quickly. "What do you mean?" he asked quietly. His cousin shrugged, "I don't think we'll be feeling much of anything by the time this training is finished." The Wing pilot wasn't sure what the other pilot meant, but he fought back the sudden urge to run as far from that base as far as possible without looking back. Little did he know that Kumi was fighting that very same urge.
* * * * * *
(Present)
On Pulsar, Catherine was in one of the firing rang rooms to work on her aim. Wufei and Derek were watching closely from the side of the room. Looking to her target, the redhead held a pistol with both hands. It was a stimulated target before her that was lit by a red laser. Taking a deep breath, Delapan worked on locking onto the target. Her arms were shaking a bit as she strained to keep a good visual. Finally, she fired and missed by a good few inches. The pilot gritted her teeth and growled as she lowered the gun.
"Try not to think so much," Wufei said. Delapan shook her head, "I can't help it. How can you not think too much when you're trying to hit your target?" Derek smiled, "It'll come to you. The less you worry about nailing your target, the easier it'll be to hit it." The young woman sighed and looked to the gun in her hand.
Wufei walked to her and reached for the weapon. When Catherine handed him the pistol, Wufei locked his elbows and wrists until they were straight and narrow as they pointed ahead of him. "The more you lock you arms, the less you'll have to worry about everything else." The redhead was handed the gun again by the Chinese pilot as she shrugged, "All right."
Derek came and kissed Catherine's cheek. "You're doing fine, hon. Just give yourself time. It won't just come out of nowhere." Delapan smiled and nodded to the Preventer. Just then, she looked to Wufei in shock. He smirked and crossed his arms as he asked, "What is it?" Catherine crossed her own arms and smiled, "I'm surprised you haven't said anything that would be insulting towards women and their being weak." Wufei chuckled and closed his eyes as he replied, "Don't think that I haven't thought about that just because I haven't said it."
Catherine was about to say something smart back when Relena ran into the doorway with Brian. She had a huge smile as she announced to her comrades, "Novem's back! She's flying into the hanger now!" She and her husband then ran off and went in that direction. The young pilots looked to each other in shock and quickly followed the King and Queen of the World as they ran to the hanger together.
Water, Fire and Wind were already in the hanger by the time the pilots arrived. Lady Une was ahead of all of them as they looked to the small ship pulling in the hanger. When it shut down, the door before them opened and Dorothy walked out. She smiled brightly to her friends. Relena beamed and shouted, "DOROTHY!" At this, she ran to her friend and hugged her.
When the embrace ended, the young queen looked to Novem and asked with concern, "Are you all right? You have no idea how worried we were about you." The blonde pilot smiled warmly to her friend and the other pilots walked up to them. "I had to escort someone here," Dorothy explained as she turned her head back to the ship. The others looked with curiosity.
Marimaya, now eleven years old, wheeled out from the dark entrance of the ship. The shocked faces of the people before her were priceless. Lady Une was the first to break the silence as she gasped and cried in elation, "Marimaya!" She ran forward and bent down to hug the child. The girl's hair was now past her shoulders and she hugged the head of the Preventers tightly. She smiled in the embrace, "I've missed you, Lady Une."
Relena looked to the child and walked up to her slowly. The girl in the wheelchair smiled to the queen, "Hello, Miss Relena. I'm glad that you regained your position as Queen of the World." Relena smiled and bent down to hug Marimaya. "It's so good to see you," she whispered as she hugged the girl. The others all gathered around the daughter of Tries Khushrenadah as they continued to look at her in amazement.
The red-haired girl smiled warmly to all of them, "It's wonderful to see all of you again." Everyone returned the sweet expression and each took turns reuniting with her. Wufei looked to Dorothy and smirked, "I was going to lecture you on taking off...But you did a good thing." Novem chuckled deeply and curtseyed to her comrade, "I'm pleased to hear that, Wufei. And it's good to have you back." The Chinese pilot smiled and nodded.
Marimaya turned to lady Une, Noin, Sally, Milliardo and Lieutenant Keiser. "We have a lot to discuss concerning my Uncle Quinze and the situation of this war," she stated. For a child of her age, she spoke well and was very serious when it came to situations like this. Lady Une nodded, "Of course. We could use all the help we can get." The girl nodded and turned to the Gundam pilots. "I look forward to speaking to all of you again," she told them. "I can't thank you enough for all of your help in fighting OZ."
Relena smiled warmly to the child, "Thank you for believing in us." Wufei nodded, "It's a relief to know that we have you working with us in this war." Marimaya smiled back, "It's an honor to fight by your sides." At this, she and the Preventers left the hanger as the pilots watched.
Brian turned to Novem and asked, "How were you ever able to find her?" The blonde pilot answered, "I received a message from her the night that I left. Since I've always worked with Miss Relena, she knew that I would be on Pulsar along with her. I never told anyone about the message or what I was planning for the fact that there might be a spy somewhere among us, now that we know OZ figured out all of the colonies the other pilots were sent to." Derek nodded, "Smart girl. You did the right thing."
Catherine sighed deeply in relief, "Let's just hope the others finished their missions and get back here soon. Then we'll finally be able to take the offensive instead of just waiting around here for OZ to hit." Wufei replied, "One step at a time. They'll be back before long." Dorothy smiled, "It's not like any of them won't be able to take care of themselves. Relena nodded, "I couldn't agree more." Wrapping an arm around Dorothy's shoulder, she smiled, "Come on. We have a lot of catching up to do." From there, everyone walked from the hanger together.
* * * * * *
On a Preventer craft just beyond M29, Kumi was floating in the hanger as she examined Excalibur. Looking to the large left wing of her Gundam, the silver-haired pilot made sure that everything was in place. A young woman ran to the edge of one of the lifts over the suit and called, "Kumi, there's someone requesting to speak with you." The pilot nodded and lowered herself to the ground as she used the wing as an aid in doing so.
When Kumi was almost touching the ground, the Preventer was there with a hand-held monitor attached to a headset. She tossed the device to Kumi and exited the hanger again. Kumi caught the monitor and placed the headphones on and set the headset's microphone to fall just next to her mouth. Turning the monitor, the image of a Preventer appeared. She had short, straight brown hair and brown eyes to match. There was no question that this lady was Japanese. While there was uncertainty regarding her age, Kumi estimated that the Preventer must have been in her mid or late forties.
The woman looked to the pilot with wide eyes when their eyes locked. After a pause, she smiled, "I'm sorry. There must be some kind of mistake. I was looking for Kumi Yuy." The silver-haired pilot nodded and replied in monotone, "You're looking at her." The Preventer's eyes shot wide again and her mouth fell a bit open. She gasped and shook her head, "I'm sorry, Kumi. I didn't mean..." The woman sighed deeply and Kumi was not able to understand why this woman was so nervous and shocked.
Finally, the Preventer sighed, "I'm Sera Makato. I'm here with Heero. He was hoping to speak with you." Kumi's eyes widened at the mention of her cousin's name. "I'll be patching you to his laptop now," Makato stated. Kumi nodded, "Thank you, Sera." The Preventer took one long look to her niece. Finally, she said quietly and almost sadly, "Take care, Kumi." The connection was lost as the screen turned to blue for a moment. She didn't know why, but the 'Perfect Soldier' felt something strange when she saw that Preventer.
Before she could think about this any further, Heero's image appeared on the monitor. He smiled when he saw his cousin and sighed deeply in relief, "Hi, Kumi." The young woman nodded and replied, "Hi, Heero." The Wing pilot began, "I had a feeling you'd be leaving for your mission soon." Kumi nodded, "Yea. I leave first thing in the morning."
Heero replied, "Then I caught you just in time."
After a brief pause, The young man said quietly, "I just wanted to wish you luck." The silver-haired pilot sighed, "You're not going soft on me now are you, Heero?" Her cousin laughed- a genuine sweet laugh- something Kumi never heard from him before they were separated for the first war. It actually was a nice sound, thought she wouldn't admit it.
Heero shrugged, "Maybe. Just being the protective older brother as always." Kumi smirked, "Just don't forget, you're only an hour older that I am and I can take care of myself." Her 'brother' nodded, "I know. I just wanted to tell you to be careful anyway." Kumi saluted and replied, "Yes, sir."
Heero chuckled deeply. His 'sister' then said, "Gotta go." The Wing pilot nodded, "Yea." There was a brief pause and Kumi was about to float away from the monitor as she turned her back to it. Heero said quietly, "I love you, Kumi." The silver-haired pilot froze when she heard these words and turned back slowly to look to the other pilot. She lowered her head and whispered with a small hit of the emotion she had always tried to bury, "Yea. I love you too, Heero." He replied in a small whisper, "Bye." Kumi replied the same, "Bye." The connection was cut off.
Heero looked to the blank screen of his laptop before closing it slowly. He left the hanger and reentered the cockpit. Sera turned back to look at her son when she heard him enter. Heero sat at the seat in beside hers. He looked out the window and watched the stars silently. Sera said quietly, "I didn't realize that your cousin has silver hair." Heero turned to look at her with a look that couldn't be read. After a pause, he replied, "It wasn't always like that."
Sera was already aware that Kumi's hair used to be as dark as her son's. She saw her as a baby when her hair was beginning to come in. Today was the first time she saw her niece since then. Makato bit her lip as she looked back to the monitors ahead of her, too nervous to ask what happened to Kumi. Taking a deep breath, Heero looked back out the window beside him, recalling the night when Doctor J killed any emotions that he and Kumi had, which were not a lot to begin with...the night that the 'Perfect Soldiers' were born.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
Just two months after the incident with the girl and her dog, Heero had failed a mission, in Doctor J's eyes and in the eyes of the soldiers that worked with the old man. While he accomplished the mission he had been sent on, the 'Perfect Soldier' would not destroy a city that was not far from the base he was close to. The soldiers supervising him ordered the pilot to wipe everything out as the people there slept silently.
This was not anything that Heero was able to do, since he did not see sleeping citizens as an enemy to be crushed. They had done nothing wrong but lived their lives. Since he would not carry out the task, Heero's supervisors were wild with rage and took care of the city themselves- killing every man, woman and child within. When they returned, Heero was placed in a small room where he sat in waiting for his punishment silently.
The doors opened and the old man that made Heero and Kumi what they were now entered. Doctor J was pacing just ahead of the child for a while and finally sighed, "Did I not tell you to follow the orders that your supervisors gave you, Heero?"
Heero hung his head and whispered, "Yes, you did, Doctor J." The old man looked into the young pilot's eyes. "Then what is this I hear of you trying to stop them from destroying that town? Most likely, someone would have seen you and your Gundam. They cannot be allowed to live."
"They were sleeping, Doctor J," the boy tried to protest. "They were innocent people and-" Doctor J shouted harshly, "And what, Heero!?! You are the perfect soldier. If you intend to stay that way, you cannot be concerned with the fact that innocent people are going to die. Starks and Reinhart are here to show you that.
"The Perfect Soldier does not feel anything. I thought that you understood that. The Perfect Soldier CANNOT feel anything. If he or she does, then they are weak and foolish. There is nothing worth your effort to feel anything. I did not give this life to you and Kumi just so that you could walk away without becoming the ideal creations that I know you are."
"I'm sorry, Doctor J." "I don't think you're sorry enough. The old man walked to the door between the soldiers. Heero squinted and saw that he was carrying a limp being over his shoulder as he walked back to the center of the room.
"See what happens when you make mistakes, Heero," the doctor yelled as he threw the bundle before the pilot. It was a girl, but her face was to the ground as that's how her unconscious body landed when it was hurled. Her hair was long and straight and silver. Her body was bleeding in many places from where she had been brutally beaten.
"KUMI!?!" Heero cried as he jumped out of his chair and gathered his cousin into his arms. Her face was cut and her eyes would not open. Heero couldn't take his eyes away from her hair as he stroked it gently.
Fighting tears, he shouted, "What did you do to her?"
"Everyone pays for a mistake that you make. You're both Perfect Soldiers and you have no room for mistakes. You will pay for each other's mistakes." He kneeled in front of the boy and his fallen cousin. He stroked the girl's hair and smiled, "It doesn't look too bad. The bleach that we pumped her with was enough to make her hair fall out. Instead, it changed from it's lovely dark shard to this."
Heero couldn't believe his ears as he hoarsely gasped, "Bleach? You pumped her full of bleach!?!" Doctor J glared to the Wing pilot. "She can't die that way, Heero. Remember, both of you are unable to die through blood contamination, or through brutality brought upon you. However, it does hurt like hell."
Heero held Kumi close and kissed her forehead as the doctor slapped him across the face with his metal hand. From the force, Heero dropped his cousin as he was knocked back across the room. "Damn it, Heero! You still don't get it! You have NO feelings! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?!" he shouted. Heero sat up and nodded. The old man sighed and turned his back as he made his way out the door. "I'll leave you to your supervisors. They'll break you from any feeling."
When the door was closed, the two soldiers smiled wickedly as they ran across the room and began to beat the young pilot across the room. The terrible acts did not end with the brutal physical attack. Both soldiers took their turns in raping the child several times. The shouts and cries from Heero finally ended when he realized that there was nothing he could do. He simply blocked the pain, blocked all feeling, blocked all thoughts, blocked everything that was seen as weak.
After an hour of the punishment, the soldiers left the room, laughing. They slammed the door behind the boy, leaving him empty and unable to move as he lied not far from his cousin's form. He forced himself to sit up after several minutes passed as he crawled and lied next to Kumi.
The young girl was lying on her side that was facing him now. The bleeding from her wounds had stopped but she had not waken up yet. Heero just lied there, looking into her face. He lied like that for sometime before she finally woke.
Kumi looked at her cousin without any expression in her face. Though she saw that her cousin had been tortured terribly, she did not know how to feel, or what it really meant to feel anything. She couldn't even feel the enormous pain in every pair of her body after her experience. "Hi, Heero," she said to him, with no emotion behind her words. "Hi, Kumi," Heero responded the same way.
Some of the silver hair was falling to the girl's side. "Hn." she shrugged as she got a good look at it. Kumi couldn't even begin to know how she should react, she couldn't react of she tried. "We have to get back to our rooms and get ready for tomorrow's mission," she informed him with emptiness in her tone. Heero shrugged as well, "Yea."
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Present)
Kumi completed her look over Excalibur and was now looking to Colony M29 from the window of the hanger. The Commander Hazark entered and made his way to the young woman. When they looked to each other, the man told her, "We have yet to find any signs of OZ troops anywhere on or near the Colony, Kumi. It seems like we were wrong in believing that OZ knows every Colony that you and your friends were sent to." The silver-haired pilot remained silent and looked back out the window.
"I will have a crew of soldiers ready to fly with you when you leave in the morning," Hazark informed the 'Perfect Soldier.' Kumi shook her head, "No. I have a feeling that OZ has something else planned." The Preventer's eyes widened as he asked, "Then why not take a fleet of Preventers fly to M29 with you?" Turning back to the commander, the pilot answered with a tone that sent chills up the man's spine, "Because I have a feeling about something. You don't want any of you soldiers on M29 with me when I leave."
* * * * * *
Meanwhile, on Colony M29, clouds formed in the night sky all over the colony, signs of a threatening storm to come soon. In the manmade mountain ranges, a blue Gundam with the head of a ram stood on top of one of the tallest cliffs. Inside, Demetris chuckled deeply, "I've been waiting a long time for this."
TBC
Author's Notes: To my friend Sam, Thank you for the ideas hat you have given me for this story! You helped make writing this so much easier! Thanks again!
As always, I cannot thank all of you enough that have reviewed and supported this saga! It's a lot of work, but it's worth it thanks to all of you! I hope that you like this next episode! Have fun! Love, SkyLark
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 22: The Heart and Soul of Outer Space
by SkyLark
with help from: Snodin, Traci, Sam, Stormy, Sky and Beekay
In an office on one of the countless OZ carriers, Quinze Khushrenadah looked to the reports of the Gundam pilots that he had gathered. Stacy Stanton peeked in after knocking as she opened the door. Quinze smiled to her, "Come in, Stacy. I was just looking through some files."
Stacy walked to her the OZ leader's desk and looked to the papers spread across its surface. They were the mug shots of the Gundam pilots attached to the records that had been found on them. "I can't help but find all of them intriguing," the young man said out of nowhere. "For such a diverse group, they work as if they were one being."
Looking to Heero and Kumi's images and reports, Quinze said quietly, "I wish that I could have known Doctor J when he was alive. I'd love to know how he was able to forge these two pilots." Stacy asked, "Even though he was killed by his own creations?" Quinze laughed and nodded, "The man was a genius, regardless of how he was killed. He wanted to make the 'Perfect Soldiers' and he succeeded." Holding the two reports, he thought aloud, "With no records of what training he gave them, there's no telling what it takes to make the ultimate weapon."
Stanton shrugged and turned to walk out of the room, "I understand your respect for Doctor J. He did make two incredible pilots. But everyone dies eventually. Heero and Kumi won't live to see the end of this war." She left as Quinze continued to look to what little information he was able to gather on the two pilots. "This is true," he smirked to the images of the 'Perfect Soldiers.' "All good things must come to an end."
* * * * * *
It was a week since Wufei's return to Pulsar and his friends. Sera Makato couldn't sleep tonight. On the ship carrying her and the Wing pilot, she rose from the bed in her small room. Wrapping a red robe over her nightgown, she stepped out to the hallway.
Heero's room wasn't far from her own. Walking there like this, as she did every night after the Wing pilot would to retire for the night, she sighed deeply. Soon, the Preventer was standing before the closed door of the pilot's room. Biting her lip, she turned the knob very slowly and quietly.
Peeking her head in very carefully, Sera looked in to see her son sleeping. Heero's bed was right across the way from the door. He was covered in the pale blue seat from mid-chest down. The Wing pilot was lost in sleep at this point and unaware that he was being watched. Sera was already aware of the tattoo on her son's back, since she watched him like this many times before.
Heero was lying on his left side with his right arm stretched out before him as if reaching for something that wasn't there. Sera had come to the conclusion that he slept like this whenever he wasn't sleeping with Duo. He was reaching out for the braided pilot. The scene was as precious as it was heartbreaking.
After a moment of watching her son sleep, Sera frowned and closed the door behind her as she slipped out again. Staring to the door and resting a hand there, she sighed deeply and lowered her head. "What have we done, Odin?" she whispered sadly. A small tear rolled down Sera's right cheek on cue and she brushed it away. The Preventer walked back to her room and wondered what her son had been through the last twenty-two years.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
Five-year-old Odin Lowe Jr. was now in the care of Doctor J. The man was driving the boy to the place he would be calling home for the next eleven years- the base where he was to be trained. The young child looked out the passenger seat window of the black car as the old man took him through the desolate countryside of L1.
Not long ago, the boy held Odin Lowe as he died in his arms. The man was the only father figure that the child knew. He was thinking about him now, as he watched the scenery. Odin stayed silent as the driver with the mechanic arm and leg drove.
"We're almost there," Doctor J finally said. The child looked to him with uncertainty, not knowing how he should feel about this Doctor J. He was very strange and something about him sent chills up the boy's back. Odin just looked ahead again, silent as ever. Soon, the black car drove through two huge gates that opened for the car and quickly closed once the automobile entered.
When the car parked, a little girl, five-years-old with dark brown hair and cobalt eyes walked to the car alone. She looked up to Doctor J as he stepped from the car. He saw the little girl and gave a nod. He held a hand out to the boy inside the car. Odin was soon standing before the girl and looked to her in confusion. The girl gave him the same look. They could have easily passed off as twins. Doctor J chuckled deeply in content as he looked to the pair.
The doctor got on one knee next the two of them and turned to the boy. "Heero, this is Kumi, your cousin." Turning to Kumi, he stated, "Kumi, meet Heero. The little boy looked to Doctor J in shock. "My name is Odin," he said quietly. Doctor J sneered and shook his head, "You're not Odin Lowe Junior any longer. You're Heero Yuy from this point on."
When this was said, there was a fifteen-year-old boy walking past the kids. He was tall and very muscular for his young age. He was covered in bruises and looked like he could easily kill anyone that crossed him. As he walked past the children, he glared to the both of them with an ice stare from his green eyes. Heero's eyes widened in fear from the strange appearance of the young man.
The teenager walked on, taking his dark stare with him as he headed to the dormitory. Doctor J chuckled deeply to the frightened children before him. "That's Marcus. Don't worry, he won't be alive much longer to bother you. He was a test." Kumi and Heero gave the doctor a look of uncertainty and confusion. "You'll look just like him when you're his age. But you won't be the disappointment that he has been. I'll see to that personally," the old man informed the kids as he rose.
"Dinner is in an hour. Don't be late." Looking to Kumi, Doctor J said, "You know where you need to go to eat. See that Heero knows where to go." The girl nodded, "Hai, Doctor J." The man turned and said, "I'll let you two have this time to get to know each other. You'll be working together very closely while you're here." At this, he walked away from the children he chose to become the 'Perfect Soldiers.'
Heero and Kumi just stood silently as they looked to each other in silence, not knowing what they were to say or do right now. Heero finally broke the long pause and asked, "Are you really my cousin?" Kumi nodded, "Hai." There was another pause between the children and Heero asked quietly, "Are you scared?" His cousin nodded with a sad glance and whispered, "Hai." Heero nodded and whispered back, "I am, too."
(End Flashback)
@ @ @ @ @ @
(New Flashback)
Ten-years-old now, Heero and Kumi were using a virtual-reality machine to work on her aiming abilities. They were already working quite impressively as they hit every target, even with countless wires and sensors over their small bodies, measuring their every move. Doctor J was watching closely in the observation room. "That's it," he sneered evilly as he was more than pleased with the progress of his pilots.
The system was extremely lifelike as Heero and Kumi took out targets of all kinds. "Kill anything that moves," they heard the doctor's voice shout again into her head set. The children did just that. Nothing was spared from the young soldiers. Without blinking, they took out any and everything that was there, working their hands and arms to match the synthesized actions on the screen.
Just as Kumi was about to complete one of the highest levels of the system, Doctor J typed a new order into the system. "Let's see how she does with this," he chuckled deeply in anticipation. The command went through and Kumi was waiting for her next target to arrive, after killing several targets of OZ soldiers. Just then, the image of a little girl, her age came from behind the realistic scenery of the woods.
Kumi gasped and she froze instantly. The little redhead was smiling and picking flowers, singing and placing the buds in a small basket that she carried with her. Seeing Kumi, she stopped and dropped the basket as she looked to her in terror. "KILL HER KUMI! PULL THE TRIGGER!" Doctor J screamed over the headphones. The young pilot's hands began to shake as she pointed the gun to the girl's head. "I...I..." she whispered brokenly, lips quivering.
Heero was beginning to sense that his cousin was in trouble as he stopped concentrating on his own test. He lowered his gun and removed the visor that brought the lifelike images. Only then was Heero able to see his cousin's shaking body, visor and sensors on as she struggled with herself to shoot her target. He began removing his sensors and wires as he made his way to the girl, calling, "Kumi?"
With a small whimper, the Kumi dropped the gun that she held and fell to her knees. She removed the visor from her eyes and began taking the wires and sensors that were on any exposed skin, with Heero's help when he reached her side. Kumi didn't know if she should be disappointed or relieved that she didn't kill the girl, whether she was real or not. It just seemed too real, no matter what the case was.
The door behind them opened and the children heard the scientist enter quietly. The girl turned to say something to apologize. The second she was able to look up to the old man, he whacked her square across the face with his metal hand, sending her reeling across the room. Heero was hit just the same as he crashed into the wall to on the opposite side of the room. Kumi was too stunned to feel the real pain that the blow caused as she looked with wide, frightened eyes to the doctor. Heero was in the same position as he sat up and watched the man advance towards his cousin like a wild animal lurking onto its prey.
Neither child allowed a tear to fall, having been taught early on that tears were not to be shed at any point, unless they wanted to be punished even more severely than they already were. By now, they never felt the urge to cry. Kumi rose and was prepared for the worst, head lowered as she held her breath. The scientist leaned down until their noses were practically touching. "You failed your test, Kumi," the old man growled deeply.
The girl nodded and accepted the next sharp, swift blow to come across the right side of her face. This time, only her head snapped to the side, and she never allowed even a whimper out. While this pleased Doctor J, he was not satisfied that the girl understood the situation that her failure put her in. "You need to realize that when you fail, others are affected along with you."
Before either child could blink, Heero was approached by the man and given several blows while a guard standing outside entered and held the boy up. Kumi's eyes widened as she was forced to watch her cousin being beaten. Once his face bore several bruises and cuts that would last a good week, Doctor J looked back to the girl. "Do you want to see him suffer any longer?" Kumi shook her head quickly, biting her lip to prevent any whimpers.
Finally pleased that he made his point, Doctor J nodded to the soldier. Heero was released and the young man who restrained him left again. The boy kneeled and lowered his head, the way that he and his cousin were to after their beatings to show their subordination to the old man.
Walking to Kumi one last time, the man stated, "You cannot allow yourself to feel sorry for your targets, no matter how young and innocent them may seem." He proceeded to whack the girl several more times, giving her bruises that matched those of Heero. When the punishment was over, Kumi lowered herself onto her knees and lowered her head. "Go clean yourselves off," the man ordered as he walked to the door.
When they were alone, Kumi and Heero crawled to meet in the middle of the room. The girl looked to her cousin's wounds and whispered, "I-I'm sorry, Heero." The boy smirked and said quietly, "I'm proud that you followed your feelings. My father-" The young boy stopped his words and lowered his head as he continued, "Odin taught me to follow my emotions." Kumi nodded, though she never knew anything other than the base where she and Heero lived and trained now. She had been here as far back as she could remember.
Heero stood first, placing a hand to his face to wipe some of the blood that remained from the marks on his cheeks. Kumi rose as well and didn't bother to wipe her face yet. "We better hurry and get cleaned for the next test," Heero told the girl. She nodded, "Yea." They left the room quickly to do just that.
(End Flashback)
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Present)
Heero walked from his room, fully rested and changed. He entered the small hanger of the ship, where Sera was looking to the equipment and supplies that they were relying on to reach the Colony that Heero needed to find to accomplish his mission. The last few hours, she was able to catch up on the rest that she lost the night before. Looking to her notes that she made while counting the provisions, she told herself, "We'll have to make another pit stop to stock up on some of these materials." It was then that her son found her.
Sera gave a small gasp, not knowing that her son was behind her until she turned around. She smiled warmly, "Ohayo, Heero." The Wing pilot gave a small smile and nodded, "Ohayo, Sera." The Preventer asked, "Is everything all right?" Heero replied, "Actually, I was wondering if I could ask a favor." Sera nodded, "Sure. What can I do?" Her son answered, "I was wondering if you could channel a signal to Kumi for me."
Not expecting to hear this, the Preventer's eyes widened and a small gasp left her. Before Heero could sense her real shock, Makato smiled and nodded, "It'll take a few hours to patch through. And you'll only be able to speak for a few minutes. That's why we need these missions completed. But, I'll work on finding her now." The Wing pilot replied sincerely, "Arigato." Sera nodded and floated to the door as she made her way to the cockpit along with Heero.
Heero watched as Sera worked at the monitor silently in the back of the room, hoping that she would be able to get through to his cousin. It had been months since the two pilots spoke or saw each other. Since they were all they knew for so many years, Heero couldn't help but be protective of the silver-haired pilot. And Kumi was the same when it came to the Wing pilot.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
Twelve-year old Heero Yuy walked down the empty corridor of the base where he and Kumi were under Doctor J's influence. He was in the same clothes that he was always given to wear, green tank, black spandex shorts. He snuck past several guards of the facility and made it to a door that was far from any others. The Wing pilot ran to the door and knocked a secret code- three quick, two slow. The door quickly opened as a slender hand shot out and wrapped around his right wrist. With a small smile, Heero was pulled like this into the room.
Kumi was biting her bottom lip as she quickly closed the door behind Heero when she yanked him in. Her hair was as dark as her cousin's at this time, same shade and all. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and fell to her waist. The Excalibur pilot wore her purple tank, black sports bra and dark brown spandex shorts and smiled warmly to the Wing pilot as she sat Indian style on her bed with her cousin sitting the same before her in less time than it took to blink since she pulled him in her room.
Holding back the emotions in her as best she could, Kumi asked in an anxious whisper, "So how was it out there?" Heero couldn't help but give a small smile and whispered back in awe as he recalled him first time out of the base since he first arrived, "It was incredible. I never thought that there were so many beautiful things on this colony."
The Wing pilot looked to Kumi and sighed quietly, "I wish that you could have been out there with me. Thank you for staying here to distract the guards and Doctor J while I got out." Kumi chuckled and shrugged, "It was worth seeing the pissed looks on their faces when I set off the alarms in the main plant." Heero laughed quietly at the thought of those faces.
Still curious of everything that happened, Kumi went on asking questions. She had never been past the base gates and was more than happy to at least help her cousin have his chance to see what the colony looked like beyond them. Heero was more than happy to answer every question that his cousin had. He just wished that she didn't have to stay behind while he got to have a taste of life for a moment.
"Did you have any trouble getting out?" the female pilot asked. Heero shook his head, "The only good thing about this training is that it helps us out with things like jumping over fences like that without any trouble." The girl smirked, "Guess this experience has it's good points after all."
The young girl then noticed something in Heero's hand. it was a small yellow flower. "Where did you get that?" she asked as she pointed to the bud. Heero looked to the flower and held it to his cousin and answered, "A little girl that I met out there gave it to me. She couldn't have been more than five or so. You can have it if you want." His cousin smiled, but shook her head, "No. it was a gift. It wouldn't be right for me to take something that had been intended for you."
The Wing pilot gave a small smile and looked to the flower, "I never was given anything before." Looking to the clock on Kumi's desk beside the bed, Heero's eyes widened for a moment. Seeing his expression, Kumi looked to the clock to see that it was almost ten o'clock. She said quietly, with a hint of warning as Heero rose from the bed, "Better get running for that mission of yours." Her cousin nodded, "Yea. The explosives are already in place. All I have to do is detonate them. It won't take long at all."
Turning to the girl as he walked to the door, Heero waved with his free hand, "I'll see you in a few hours, Kumi." She smiled back and waved as the door opened, "Good luck, Heero." The Wing pilot nodded before leaving and running down the hall, still holding the flower tightly in his left hand.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Next Flashback)
Several hours later, Kumi walked down the long hall of the main facility. "Retrain him at once! Any human emotion such as kindness is unnecessary for our weapon!" Doctor J's voice shouted from behind the closed door that she reached. "You're right about that," she heard one of the guards say, "But would Heero Yuy be pleased if we bury his humanity?"
The pilot's eyes narrowed as she continued to listen in. Doctor J continued in a thunderous voice, "I don't care what we have to do! Heero and Kumi cannot be allowed to feel any emotions! They are weaknesses and nothing more! Do whatever it takes to wipe every emotion possible from them!""
The dark-haired girl bit her lip as she felt her heart stop. Something went wrong with Heero's mission, she realized. Running through the base, she reached a closed door far from any of the other rooms. She gave the secret knock- three quick, two slow. The door opened by remote and she walked inside quietly. The door closed behind her as soon as she entered. Heero was lying on his mattress, on his stomach and head turned away from her. "Heero?" Kumi asked in a small voice. Her cousin never looked up to her.
Taking a deep breath, the girl walked over to the mattress and lied there on her side. Kumi stroked Heero's hair and whispered, "Heero, what happened?" After a pause, her cousin knew that he couldn't answer. Instead, he turned to lie on his right side, still looking from the only family that he had.
Kumi crawled up to lie right behind him and wrapped her left arm around his waist. Timidly, Heero took his left arm and hand, folding them over Kumi's in a gentle embrace. They never hugged before and this was the closest thing to it that they ever came.
There was another pause, then finally, Heero took a deep breath and said in a small voice, "I killed an innocent." Kumi's eyes widened as she gasped quietly. Heero turned to lie on his back, with his hand still holding Kumi's.
While he hadn't been crying, Heero's expression was the saddest and closest to tears that Kumi ever saw on him before. It was at that time that she looked to the desk on Heero's side of the bed. On the wooden surface, the yellow flower that the girl had given Heero lied, dead and crushed. "H-Heero," was all she barely managed to whisper sadly as she lowered her head.
Heero sat up along with his cousin, their closest thing to a hug broken. Their cobalt eyes locked and the Wing pilot asked quietly, "Will you help me bury Mary?" Before his cousin could ask, Heeo pointed to a small, closed shoe box resting on the chair next to the table with the dead yellow flower. "The girl's dog," he explained in a small whisper, not looking to see the other pilot's face. There was a huge knot in Kumi's stomach. She nodded after a brief pause, "Sure."
Heero seemed to calm a bit when she said this, though he didn't let off to much of what he was feeling to begin with. He looked to the small box where he placed Mary. Then, he stared at the dead flower on his desk. "I don't even know how I should really feel right now. I'm not sure what emotions I have that I should follow." Kumi's eyes widened for a moment as there words made her recall the conversation she overheard prior to coming to Heero's room. Doctor J wanted the pilots retrained and robbed of any feeling that they still managed to hold onto.
With a small sigh, Kumi replied, "It won't matter before long." Heero's eyes widened as he turned to face her quickly. "What do you mean?" he asked quietly. His cousin shrugged, "I don't think we'll be feeling much of anything by the time this training is finished." The Wing pilot wasn't sure what the other pilot meant, but he fought back the sudden urge to run as far from that base as far as possible without looking back. Little did he know that Kumi was fighting that very same urge.
* * * * * *
(Present)
On Pulsar, Catherine was in one of the firing rang rooms to work on her aim. Wufei and Derek were watching closely from the side of the room. Looking to her target, the redhead held a pistol with both hands. It was a stimulated target before her that was lit by a red laser. Taking a deep breath, Delapan worked on locking onto the target. Her arms were shaking a bit as she strained to keep a good visual. Finally, she fired and missed by a good few inches. The pilot gritted her teeth and growled as she lowered the gun.
"Try not to think so much," Wufei said. Delapan shook her head, "I can't help it. How can you not think too much when you're trying to hit your target?" Derek smiled, "It'll come to you. The less you worry about nailing your target, the easier it'll be to hit it." The young woman sighed and looked to the gun in her hand.
Wufei walked to her and reached for the weapon. When Catherine handed him the pistol, Wufei locked his elbows and wrists until they were straight and narrow as they pointed ahead of him. "The more you lock you arms, the less you'll have to worry about everything else." The redhead was handed the gun again by the Chinese pilot as she shrugged, "All right."
Derek came and kissed Catherine's cheek. "You're doing fine, hon. Just give yourself time. It won't just come out of nowhere." Delapan smiled and nodded to the Preventer. Just then, she looked to Wufei in shock. He smirked and crossed his arms as he asked, "What is it?" Catherine crossed her own arms and smiled, "I'm surprised you haven't said anything that would be insulting towards women and their being weak." Wufei chuckled and closed his eyes as he replied, "Don't think that I haven't thought about that just because I haven't said it."
Catherine was about to say something smart back when Relena ran into the doorway with Brian. She had a huge smile as she announced to her comrades, "Novem's back! She's flying into the hanger now!" She and her husband then ran off and went in that direction. The young pilots looked to each other in shock and quickly followed the King and Queen of the World as they ran to the hanger together.
Water, Fire and Wind were already in the hanger by the time the pilots arrived. Lady Une was ahead of all of them as they looked to the small ship pulling in the hanger. When it shut down, the door before them opened and Dorothy walked out. She smiled brightly to her friends. Relena beamed and shouted, "DOROTHY!" At this, she ran to her friend and hugged her.
When the embrace ended, the young queen looked to Novem and asked with concern, "Are you all right? You have no idea how worried we were about you." The blonde pilot smiled warmly to her friend and the other pilots walked up to them. "I had to escort someone here," Dorothy explained as she turned her head back to the ship. The others looked with curiosity.
Marimaya, now eleven years old, wheeled out from the dark entrance of the ship. The shocked faces of the people before her were priceless. Lady Une was the first to break the silence as she gasped and cried in elation, "Marimaya!" She ran forward and bent down to hug the child. The girl's hair was now past her shoulders and she hugged the head of the Preventers tightly. She smiled in the embrace, "I've missed you, Lady Une."
Relena looked to the child and walked up to her slowly. The girl in the wheelchair smiled to the queen, "Hello, Miss Relena. I'm glad that you regained your position as Queen of the World." Relena smiled and bent down to hug Marimaya. "It's so good to see you," she whispered as she hugged the girl. The others all gathered around the daughter of Tries Khushrenadah as they continued to look at her in amazement.
The red-haired girl smiled warmly to all of them, "It's wonderful to see all of you again." Everyone returned the sweet expression and each took turns reuniting with her. Wufei looked to Dorothy and smirked, "I was going to lecture you on taking off...But you did a good thing." Novem chuckled deeply and curtseyed to her comrade, "I'm pleased to hear that, Wufei. And it's good to have you back." The Chinese pilot smiled and nodded.
Marimaya turned to lady Une, Noin, Sally, Milliardo and Lieutenant Keiser. "We have a lot to discuss concerning my Uncle Quinze and the situation of this war," she stated. For a child of her age, she spoke well and was very serious when it came to situations like this. Lady Une nodded, "Of course. We could use all the help we can get." The girl nodded and turned to the Gundam pilots. "I look forward to speaking to all of you again," she told them. "I can't thank you enough for all of your help in fighting OZ."
Relena smiled warmly to the child, "Thank you for believing in us." Wufei nodded, "It's a relief to know that we have you working with us in this war." Marimaya smiled back, "It's an honor to fight by your sides." At this, she and the Preventers left the hanger as the pilots watched.
Brian turned to Novem and asked, "How were you ever able to find her?" The blonde pilot answered, "I received a message from her the night that I left. Since I've always worked with Miss Relena, she knew that I would be on Pulsar along with her. I never told anyone about the message or what I was planning for the fact that there might be a spy somewhere among us, now that we know OZ figured out all of the colonies the other pilots were sent to." Derek nodded, "Smart girl. You did the right thing."
Catherine sighed deeply in relief, "Let's just hope the others finished their missions and get back here soon. Then we'll finally be able to take the offensive instead of just waiting around here for OZ to hit." Wufei replied, "One step at a time. They'll be back before long." Dorothy smiled, "It's not like any of them won't be able to take care of themselves. Relena nodded, "I couldn't agree more." Wrapping an arm around Dorothy's shoulder, she smiled, "Come on. We have a lot of catching up to do." From there, everyone walked from the hanger together.
* * * * * *
On a Preventer craft just beyond M29, Kumi was floating in the hanger as she examined Excalibur. Looking to the large left wing of her Gundam, the silver-haired pilot made sure that everything was in place. A young woman ran to the edge of one of the lifts over the suit and called, "Kumi, there's someone requesting to speak with you." The pilot nodded and lowered herself to the ground as she used the wing as an aid in doing so.
When Kumi was almost touching the ground, the Preventer was there with a hand-held monitor attached to a headset. She tossed the device to Kumi and exited the hanger again. Kumi caught the monitor and placed the headphones on and set the headset's microphone to fall just next to her mouth. Turning the monitor, the image of a Preventer appeared. She had short, straight brown hair and brown eyes to match. There was no question that this lady was Japanese. While there was uncertainty regarding her age, Kumi estimated that the Preventer must have been in her mid or late forties.
The woman looked to the pilot with wide eyes when their eyes locked. After a pause, she smiled, "I'm sorry. There must be some kind of mistake. I was looking for Kumi Yuy." The silver-haired pilot nodded and replied in monotone, "You're looking at her." The Preventer's eyes shot wide again and her mouth fell a bit open. She gasped and shook her head, "I'm sorry, Kumi. I didn't mean..." The woman sighed deeply and Kumi was not able to understand why this woman was so nervous and shocked.
Finally, the Preventer sighed, "I'm Sera Makato. I'm here with Heero. He was hoping to speak with you." Kumi's eyes widened at the mention of her cousin's name. "I'll be patching you to his laptop now," Makato stated. Kumi nodded, "Thank you, Sera." The Preventer took one long look to her niece. Finally, she said quietly and almost sadly, "Take care, Kumi." The connection was lost as the screen turned to blue for a moment. She didn't know why, but the 'Perfect Soldier' felt something strange when she saw that Preventer.
Before she could think about this any further, Heero's image appeared on the monitor. He smiled when he saw his cousin and sighed deeply in relief, "Hi, Kumi." The young woman nodded and replied, "Hi, Heero." The Wing pilot began, "I had a feeling you'd be leaving for your mission soon." Kumi nodded, "Yea. I leave first thing in the morning."
Heero replied, "Then I caught you just in time."
After a brief pause, The young man said quietly, "I just wanted to wish you luck." The silver-haired pilot sighed, "You're not going soft on me now are you, Heero?" Her cousin laughed- a genuine sweet laugh- something Kumi never heard from him before they were separated for the first war. It actually was a nice sound, thought she wouldn't admit it.
Heero shrugged, "Maybe. Just being the protective older brother as always." Kumi smirked, "Just don't forget, you're only an hour older that I am and I can take care of myself." Her 'brother' nodded, "I know. I just wanted to tell you to be careful anyway." Kumi saluted and replied, "Yes, sir."
Heero chuckled deeply. His 'sister' then said, "Gotta go." The Wing pilot nodded, "Yea." There was a brief pause and Kumi was about to float away from the monitor as she turned her back to it. Heero said quietly, "I love you, Kumi." The silver-haired pilot froze when she heard these words and turned back slowly to look to the other pilot. She lowered her head and whispered with a small hit of the emotion she had always tried to bury, "Yea. I love you too, Heero." He replied in a small whisper, "Bye." Kumi replied the same, "Bye." The connection was cut off.
Heero looked to the blank screen of his laptop before closing it slowly. He left the hanger and reentered the cockpit. Sera turned back to look at her son when she heard him enter. Heero sat at the seat in beside hers. He looked out the window and watched the stars silently. Sera said quietly, "I didn't realize that your cousin has silver hair." Heero turned to look at her with a look that couldn't be read. After a pause, he replied, "It wasn't always like that."
Sera was already aware that Kumi's hair used to be as dark as her son's. She saw her as a baby when her hair was beginning to come in. Today was the first time she saw her niece since then. Makato bit her lip as she looked back to the monitors ahead of her, too nervous to ask what happened to Kumi. Taking a deep breath, Heero looked back out the window beside him, recalling the night when Doctor J killed any emotions that he and Kumi had, which were not a lot to begin with...the night that the 'Perfect Soldiers' were born.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
Just two months after the incident with the girl and her dog, Heero had failed a mission, in Doctor J's eyes and in the eyes of the soldiers that worked with the old man. While he accomplished the mission he had been sent on, the 'Perfect Soldier' would not destroy a city that was not far from the base he was close to. The soldiers supervising him ordered the pilot to wipe everything out as the people there slept silently.
This was not anything that Heero was able to do, since he did not see sleeping citizens as an enemy to be crushed. They had done nothing wrong but lived their lives. Since he would not carry out the task, Heero's supervisors were wild with rage and took care of the city themselves- killing every man, woman and child within. When they returned, Heero was placed in a small room where he sat in waiting for his punishment silently.
The doors opened and the old man that made Heero and Kumi what they were now entered. Doctor J was pacing just ahead of the child for a while and finally sighed, "Did I not tell you to follow the orders that your supervisors gave you, Heero?"
Heero hung his head and whispered, "Yes, you did, Doctor J." The old man looked into the young pilot's eyes. "Then what is this I hear of you trying to stop them from destroying that town? Most likely, someone would have seen you and your Gundam. They cannot be allowed to live."
"They were sleeping, Doctor J," the boy tried to protest. "They were innocent people and-" Doctor J shouted harshly, "And what, Heero!?! You are the perfect soldier. If you intend to stay that way, you cannot be concerned with the fact that innocent people are going to die. Starks and Reinhart are here to show you that.
"The Perfect Soldier does not feel anything. I thought that you understood that. The Perfect Soldier CANNOT feel anything. If he or she does, then they are weak and foolish. There is nothing worth your effort to feel anything. I did not give this life to you and Kumi just so that you could walk away without becoming the ideal creations that I know you are."
"I'm sorry, Doctor J." "I don't think you're sorry enough. The old man walked to the door between the soldiers. Heero squinted and saw that he was carrying a limp being over his shoulder as he walked back to the center of the room.
"See what happens when you make mistakes, Heero," the doctor yelled as he threw the bundle before the pilot. It was a girl, but her face was to the ground as that's how her unconscious body landed when it was hurled. Her hair was long and straight and silver. Her body was bleeding in many places from where she had been brutally beaten.
"KUMI!?!" Heero cried as he jumped out of his chair and gathered his cousin into his arms. Her face was cut and her eyes would not open. Heero couldn't take his eyes away from her hair as he stroked it gently.
Fighting tears, he shouted, "What did you do to her?"
"Everyone pays for a mistake that you make. You're both Perfect Soldiers and you have no room for mistakes. You will pay for each other's mistakes." He kneeled in front of the boy and his fallen cousin. He stroked the girl's hair and smiled, "It doesn't look too bad. The bleach that we pumped her with was enough to make her hair fall out. Instead, it changed from it's lovely dark shard to this."
Heero couldn't believe his ears as he hoarsely gasped, "Bleach? You pumped her full of bleach!?!" Doctor J glared to the Wing pilot. "She can't die that way, Heero. Remember, both of you are unable to die through blood contamination, or through brutality brought upon you. However, it does hurt like hell."
Heero held Kumi close and kissed her forehead as the doctor slapped him across the face with his metal hand. From the force, Heero dropped his cousin as he was knocked back across the room. "Damn it, Heero! You still don't get it! You have NO feelings! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?!" he shouted. Heero sat up and nodded. The old man sighed and turned his back as he made his way out the door. "I'll leave you to your supervisors. They'll break you from any feeling."
When the door was closed, the two soldiers smiled wickedly as they ran across the room and began to beat the young pilot across the room. The terrible acts did not end with the brutal physical attack. Both soldiers took their turns in raping the child several times. The shouts and cries from Heero finally ended when he realized that there was nothing he could do. He simply blocked the pain, blocked all feeling, blocked all thoughts, blocked everything that was seen as weak.
After an hour of the punishment, the soldiers left the room, laughing. They slammed the door behind the boy, leaving him empty and unable to move as he lied not far from his cousin's form. He forced himself to sit up after several minutes passed as he crawled and lied next to Kumi.
The young girl was lying on her side that was facing him now. The bleeding from her wounds had stopped but she had not waken up yet. Heero just lied there, looking into her face. He lied like that for sometime before she finally woke.
Kumi looked at her cousin without any expression in her face. Though she saw that her cousin had been tortured terribly, she did not know how to feel, or what it really meant to feel anything. She couldn't even feel the enormous pain in every pair of her body after her experience. "Hi, Heero," she said to him, with no emotion behind her words. "Hi, Kumi," Heero responded the same way.
Some of the silver hair was falling to the girl's side. "Hn." she shrugged as she got a good look at it. Kumi couldn't even begin to know how she should react, she couldn't react of she tried. "We have to get back to our rooms and get ready for tomorrow's mission," she informed him with emptiness in her tone. Heero shrugged as well, "Yea."
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Present)
Kumi completed her look over Excalibur and was now looking to Colony M29 from the window of the hanger. The Commander Hazark entered and made his way to the young woman. When they looked to each other, the man told her, "We have yet to find any signs of OZ troops anywhere on or near the Colony, Kumi. It seems like we were wrong in believing that OZ knows every Colony that you and your friends were sent to." The silver-haired pilot remained silent and looked back out the window.
"I will have a crew of soldiers ready to fly with you when you leave in the morning," Hazark informed the 'Perfect Soldier.' Kumi shook her head, "No. I have a feeling that OZ has something else planned." The Preventer's eyes widened as he asked, "Then why not take a fleet of Preventers fly to M29 with you?" Turning back to the commander, the pilot answered with a tone that sent chills up the man's spine, "Because I have a feeling about something. You don't want any of you soldiers on M29 with me when I leave."
* * * * * *
Meanwhile, on Colony M29, clouds formed in the night sky all over the colony, signs of a threatening storm to come soon. In the manmade mountain ranges, a blue Gundam with the head of a ram stood on top of one of the tallest cliffs. Inside, Demetris chuckled deeply, "I've been waiting a long time for this."
TBC