AN: Hey! I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out, but I've been kinda busy with school and everything. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who thinks that all math teachers (especially MY math teacher) are sadists who have secret meetings to think up new ways to torture us. I swear it's a conspiracy against us! At least it's almost over. I promise that over summer vacation I will get a lot done. Okay, on to the story (I say that a lot, don't I? ^_~)
Disclaimer: Future… pilots…mine. Gundam… Wing … NOT… mine. Future… storyline … mine. Original… storyline … NOT… mine!
Ripples in the Sea of Time
By: Elyra Destiny
Chapter 2: The Journey Through Time
Year: AC 219
Her Imperial Majesty Queen Relena of the Earthsphere Unified Nation walked through the halls of her palace silently. The commander of the necessary military forces, Lady Une, had summoned all the members of the Imperial Court to a meeting. Relena sighed and turned her head slightly to look at the man walking beside her. He looked far younger than his almost forty years. In fact, he didn't look a day older than 27 at the most. ' Kuso, he's hot in that… he should wear black more often.' Heero noticed his wife looking at him in a strange way, and he smiled.
" What are you thinking about, Relena?"
" Hn…Oh, I was just wondering what Lady Une summoned us for," Relena said, not wanting to let him know what she was really thinking about. She felt warmth seep into her cheeks, embarrassed at being caught thinking like that.
' Damn, she looks cute when she blushes like that,' Heero thought. His train of thought was abruptly interrupted by a loud yell of, " MAXWELL!! GET BACK HERE, YOU BAKA!!!"
" There they go again," the royal couple sighed in unison. Heero opened the door cautiously, just as another shout was heard.
" AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! HELP ME!!!!!!! WU-FEI'S GOING FOR HIS SECOND HOMICIDE!!!!!" screamed a terrified Duo.
Heero groaned and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. He motioned for his daughter to do something. He then (along with everyone who didn't wish to go deaf) covered his ears.
Amara took a deep breath, and screamed at the top of her lungs (which miraculously, is even louder than her father!), " OMAE O KOROSU!!!!!!!"
This time, in addition to freezing, both Wu-fei and Duo turned white as marble. They turned around with identical looks of pure terror, and were trembling all over (gee I wonder why? *_*). Amara just gave them the patented Yuy family ultimate death glare (guaranteed to paralyze any mere mortal due to fear. It is also effective for scaring the hell out of a Gundam pilot.)
Duo involuntarily gave a little "EEEP!" Wu-fei only turned even paler. Amara saw their genuine fear, and decided to have a little fun. Which is usually a very bad thing for the unfortunate victims. She gave an evil smirk, and then pulled out a handgun (the safety was on, but they didn't know that, now did they?) Slowly and dramatically she raised it so that it was pointing towards the heads of the cowering pilots.
" Omae o korosu," she whispered so as to freak them out. It was, needless to say, very successful. 'Oh man! I am so dead! I've seen her shoot a hole through a moving dime from more than 1200 yards away! I don't think she's ever missed a shot.' Meanwhile, Wu-fei was busy thinking basically along those same lines: ' Damn that baka Maxwell! Now I've got Yuy's daughter after my blood. I hate to admit it but she's a lot better than even me. I'll probably be killed. Injustice!'
Just then, Amara clicked the safety off on her gun. "Sayonara," she said. A single gunshot echoed through the hallways of the palace. All personnel within hearing distance, turned towards the source of the noise, shook their heads, and went back to work. They were, after all, used to it by now. Wufei suddenly did a very unWufei-like thing. He fainted. Duo followed closely behind him. Everyone took a look at the two unconscious Gundam pilots on the floor and then the wall behind them. There was a ½ inch hole through it. Heero was the only one who thought to look through the window outside. A 34-foot tall oak tree with a circumference of 5 feet had a 3-foot hole blown through it. He sighed and said, " Amara, how many times have I told you not to use live ammunition in the palace?"
" Exactly 1,264, 928 times."
" Let me guess, another tree just bit the dust"
Suddenly a voice yelled "What the HELL is going on here?!" All eyes turned toward the door where a very pissed off and confused looking Lady Une stood glaring at them, a look of annoyance on her face.
" Um… we were just playing a little joke on Duo and Wufei heh heh…" Ace trailed off.
Her glare intensified. " Will someone please wake them up?! This is a very serious discovery I need to discuss with all of you."
Amara walked over to the two unconscious forms and shooting her hands out to press a pressure point on their necks simultaneously.
" Am I in Hell yet? It sure took a while, what with me killing everybody." Duo commented groggily.
" Where is that baka Maxwell? I'm sure he had something to do with this." Wufei muttered as he came to.
Then they looked up into the Princess' stoic face.
"AHHHH! This IS Hell! " Duo yelled, leaping up into the air and ducking behind his wife.
" Wait a minute, what are you doing here, Relena, you're a pacifist? Okay, what the hell just happened?" asked a fairly annoyed and confused Duo, commenting on the snickers from his family.
After a few minutes of explaining and many shouts of "INJUSTICE!!" from Wufei, the whole story was told.
" If we may move on to more important matters?" Lady Une asked sarcastically. The room fell silent and everyone moved to take their seats around the meeting table.
" Good. We have just received word from Major Sally Po that the Phoenix Faction has come up with a new mobile suit model. It was first spotted by the sentries on duty at point D9865. They were able to gather basic information and send it to headquarters before they were wiped out."
Everyone sat in stunned silence, shocked by this sudden news. Heero broke the silence by asking Lady Une to display the information.
" Of course." in a few seconds, images of the new model were being projected onto the wall with various information about the suit.
" This model is estimated to have about five times the strength and speed of the old Virgo mobile dolls. They are equipped with a cockpit system similar to the zero system, in the way that it increases the pilot's ability. It is not nearly as effective as the zero system; it only increases the pilot's ability by about 8.5%. However, unlike the zero system, it has addictive side effects along with making the pilot become insane. The pilot will become dependent on the system's ability to enhance their senses. The soldiers call this suit 'Scorpio'."
" How many suits is it estimated they've already produced?" Amara questioned, all traces of laughter in her eyes gone, replaced by cool, calculating arctic blue that so resembled her father.
" They have somewhere in the range of 1000."
" Do we have enough firepower to defeat them in battle?" asked Ace.
" No. Our regular suits wouldn't stand a chance, so we will keep them on sentry duty if and when an attack occurs. Even with the Neo-Gundams, we'd need twice the amount of firepower we have at the very least."
" What about if I used the modified zero system at maximum power?" inquired Amara grimly.
" It would cut down our need to about seven other suits, but it's still not enough." Lady Une answered wearily.
" Where the HELL are we going to get seven more Gundams?! AND pilots?!" exclaimed a panic stricken Duo.
" Actually, only six if we can find someone with equal or almost equal skill and experience as Amara."
" Oh, well screw that idea, cuz it ain't happenin. No one' s anywhere near as good as Amara, which in my opinion, really sucks." Ace commented.
" Wait, what if we rebuilt our Gundams and we fight. There are six of us, and Heero's as good as Amara." Trowa suggested.
" Wouldn't work, there isn't enough time. That would work perfectly, except according to the surveillance pictures I received in the report, the Carothian Empire is already transporting the Scorpio troops to a position about 40 miles from our point C defense line. It's only a matter of time until they attack us."
" Then there's absolutely no way we can win this battle unless six Gundams and pilots with skill equal to the two best pilots in the world magically appear out of no where. We are so screwed, dammit!" Colonel Mariemaeia muttered under her breath.
" Wait. I may have a solution." Amara suddenly spoke up.
" In this situation, I'll take just about anything, what is it?" asked Lady Une, a slight hope shining in her eyes.
" For the past two years, I've been working on a project. The other day I put the finishing touches on it, and I think it just might be the solution to our problem. Trowa has a point; there are six former Gundam pilots, but, like you said, I used their Gundams' parts to build our Gundams. Anyway, this project of mine, as some of you may recall, is a time machine. It is completely finished now. All that's left is to test it. I could use the time machine to go back to right after the Barton Foundation's uprising and bring back the former pilot's and their Gundams to help us in this fight."
" Are you out of your mind?! There's no way I'll let you go off in that flimsy thing. What if it backfires and it explodes with you in it?! Absolutely not!" Relena objected.
" Mother, there's always a chance that it will backfire since it is experimental, and yes, it's possible that it may explode, although the probability of that occurring is 1,268,403 to 1, there's no other way. Either we take the risk of hurting me, or we condemn thousands of soldiers to death. There are always risks involved in anything, and this is no different, but it's only a very slim possibility. However, the death of soldiers is certain. We have no choice."
" All in favor?" Lady Une asked.
Everyone raised their hands unanimously. Even Relena, though she was very reluctant.
" All right then, it's settled. Amara will bring us help from the past. Meeting adjourned." Everyone got up and left, except for the Winners and the Yuys.
Suddenly, a single tear rolled down Relena's cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. Quatre, Katrina, and Michael all felt an ache in their chest, and a feeling of worry and sadness that they knew must be an empathic wave from Relena.
Slowly, Amara stood up and walked over to her mother. What she did next surprised almost everyone. She leaned over and hugged her. Then, softly so no one else could hear, she whispered into Relena's ear, " Don't worry, I'll be careful. Aishiteru, kaasan." Amara straightened up and left the room, smiling back at her mother before leaving. The three Winner family empaths felt the sadness and worry subside to be replaced with a feeling of love and bittersweet happiness.
Heero had, of course with his perfect senses and all (he's immortal, I swear!) heard every word his daughter had said. He was secretly worried for her as well, but he didn't show it. He made a silent prayer to kami-sama to keep his daughter safe.
After exchanging small talk with Relena, and occasional words with Heero, Quatre & Co. left for the Winner estate, which had been moved to right next to the palace grounds for convenience as well as necessity.
' Hm… I wonder what it will be like having younger versions of ourselves around? I don't think I can live with two Duos! It's bad enough with Ace. And Wufei? Let's not even get into that.' Then Quatre's thoughts turned to more serious matters ' I just hope that Amara's plan works. If it doesn't, far too many innocent lives will be lost. Amara, the fate of everyone in this city rests in your hands. Please don't let them down.' Quatre thought, silently praying to kami-sama to make their plan work.
Almost two decades earlier, a younger version of himself was worrying about something entirely different….
~~~~~
Year: AC 197
" I can't believe that they're still shipping materials without my knowledge or approval! Dammit!" the young owner of the Winner Corporation swore under his breath.
One of the branches of his company had been shipping materials without his consent for a long time. They had been caught 6 months ago and were laid off. Now new workers in the same branch were doing it again! Quatre Raberba Winner had one of the most peaceful dispositions in the world, but there were certain things that really pissed him off. Having People in his company doing things without his consent was one of them.
Closing his eyes in frustration, Quatre calmed himself by thinking of something else. Namely, the other Gundam pilots. He knew that Duo and Hilde had been dating for a while and were living on the colony L2X19976. Trowa and Kathryn were still working in the Circus, which was presently touring the D4 area colonies. Wufei was working as a Preventer. Heero…. Heero was the only one whose whereabouts he didn't know. It made sense; after all, he was the most secretive of all of them. His mind drifted back to that day when Heero had selflessly given up his life for the mission when he self-destructed. Quatre had felt Heero's pain almost as he had self-destructed as well. "It hurts, my heart and soul!" he had cried out into the night. But there had been that other time when Quatre felt something other than pain. Something completely different than pain… something warm and joyful. Love. He had felt a feeling of love from Heero. Quatre hadn't known exactly whom it had been directed at, but he knew it was someone on Earth. Now, almost three years later, he knew it had to have been Relena. One day, Zechs, Noin, Relena, and Quatre had been talking and the subject of Heero had come up. He had felt a very strong feeling of sadness and pain from Relena, which grew steadily more powerful until they were almost too much to bear. A few moments later, Relena excused herself and almost ran to her room. When she had turned her face, Quatre had seen tears streaming down her cheeks. Zechs and Noin asked Quatre what was wrong with her, since he was an empath. He had answered, " I don't know much, except that it has to do with Heero. I think she misses him." But secretly, he knew; her soulmate, her other half was gone. His mind drifted back to the present. 'Heero, why are you doing this to her? I know you love her, so why? You may not know it, but you're killing her every day, she grows weaker and more depressed. No one can survive for long if half of their soul is missing. No one. Not even you, Heero; not even the Perfect Soldier.' Quatre thought silently. He opened his eyes, then walked outside onto the balcony. He sighed, and looked up at the stars. ' Heero, wherever you are, please come back to her soon, before it's too late.'
Year: AC 219
" Amara, are you sure you want to do this? You know how risky it is, right?" Ace asked worriedly.
" Yes, I'm sure Ace. Besides, it has to be done." Was Amara's exasperated answer.
Silently the pair walked down the hall towards the room marked 'Time Travel Research'. Walking in, they were greeted by all of the imperial court, come to see the princess off. After many long good-byes and precautions from everyone (mostly her mother). Amara was ready to leave. Just as she was about to step in, a voice said, " Wait!"
It was Relena. She walked over to the time machine, and with a permanent marker she wrote on the side ' HOPE!!'.
" Kaasan, what…?"
" For good luck. Please be careful." Relena said tearfully
" Don't worry, kaasan. I haven't died yet, and I don't plan to any time soon."
With that, Amara opened the hatch and stepped in. She turned and waved goodbye one final time before closing the hatch and disappearing from view. After a few minutes, the machine started to whir and buzz. It slowly lifted into the air and started glowing. Inside, Amara punched in commands; Year: AC 197 Date: December 3 Time of arrival: 5:03 p.m. Coordinates: North45, West53. After the commands were completed, she pressed the ignition button. The machine started to glow even brighter, until everyone in the small room was forced to look away. Then suddenly, it vanished. Relena instantly broke down and started sobbing uncontrollably. Heero gently picked her up, and carried her to their rooms, a look of worry in his eyes. Slowly, everyone trickled out of the room, until only Ace was left in the room. He looked around to see if anyone was looking, before he whispered into the empty room, " Aishiteru, Amara." He slowly walked out of the room and to his chambers, still thinking of her, until sleep whisked him away to blissful oblivion.
Year: AC 197
Preventer Base, a.k.a. North45, West53.
Lady Une sat at her desk, looking over some papers, when suddenly a bright flash of light outside of her window almost blinded her.
" What the Hell?!" she muttered under her breath while covering her eyes and crawling on the ground trying to find her walkie-talkie. When her vision cleared, Lady Une called for security and took a small handgun out of her top drawer and clicked the safety off. When the security arrived, she led them cautiously outside to investigate the light. As they rounded the corner, the reason became apparent. A very odd looking machine of some sort was in the middle of the courtyard, whirring and making other strange noises.
" What the Hell is that?" wondered one of the guards.
" I dunno, it looks sorta like one o' them spaceships you see on them sci-fi movies. You know, the ones with them weird aliens who come to take over Earth." Another one answered.
"Quiet, you fools!" Lady Une snapped, making them fall silent. Cautiously, the little group approached it. All of the sudden, a hatch on top of the machine opened up. Everyone gasped unanimously and moved back a few steps. Lady Une drew her handgun. Just then, a head came out. Then a pair of arms. Finally, the whole body emerged and it jumped into the air, flipping a few times before landing on the ground with the ease and grace of a cat (except the flipping part). Then, the figure turned towards them, taking off a helmet and shaking out lower- back length brownish blonde hair. Lady Une gasped and called out " Miss Relena?!"
The girl looked exactly like Relena at first glance, but if you looked closer, you could see that her hair was darker, more brown than blond. Also, her eyes were a darker, colder shade of blue that reminded her of someone, but she couldn't remember who. "No. I am not Relena. But I do know her. Lady Une, I am here on a mission. Could you please help me?"
" What sort of a mission is this, who are you, how do you know my name?!" Lady Une asked frantically.
" I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. I can tell you that if I don't accomplish this, my world will end. Please, trust me. I need your help."
After a long pause, Lady Une finally answered, " I don't know why, but for some reason, I do trust you. Tell, me, what must I do?"
The girl smiled thankfully and said, " Please contact all of the former Gundam pilots and tell them to come here at once."
" The Gundam pilots, but why? I'm not sure if they'll come, even if I am able to reach them," Lady Une responded.
" Just give them this message, and they will come: Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the enemy always returns. The Endless Waltz has begun once more."
" What?! You mean to tell me that there is another enemy!?" exclaimed a panicky Lady Une.
" In a way, yes. Please hurry, this is urgent. How soon do you think they will be able to get here?"
" In about 3 days, why?"
" Allright then, I'll see you in three days." The girl turned around and climbed up the side of the machine again.
" Wait, where are you going?" yelled Lady Une.
" To three days ahead." Without giving Lady Une time to respond, she jumped back into the machine and in another brilliant flash of light, was gone.
" What? Three days ahead? What the Hell does that mean?!" Lady Une muttered to herself.
" Lady Une, about the message?" asked a security guard nervously.
" Oh, yes. Send it out at once to the following people: Zechs Merquise, Relena Peacecraft, Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, Wufei Chang, Sally Po, Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner, Dorothy Catalonia, and Lucretzia Noin." Get a move-on!
" Yes ma'm!" chorused her soldiers before scurrying to do their duty.
' It's been a very weird day, I think I'm going to go take a bath.' Lady Une thought wearily before retiring to her room.
AN: So, whadya think? Pretty cool, huh. I'm sorry, I know it was a little bit of cliffhanger. Allright, now to clear some things up: When I was talking about Wufei's second homicide, his first one was his wife Meiran. I know he didn't kill her, but he still blames himself for her death. To all you Duo fans out there, I put that part in there about Hell because my friend Stormrider wanted me to, plus it was a joke about the God of Death. Speaking of Stormrider, READ HER FIC, IT IS AWESOME!!!! She should be listed under authors as Stormrider. She's only got the first part up and it's a poem, but she's been telling me about it and it sounds really good, so please read and review it, thank you.
Speaking of Reviews… I WANT MORE!!!!!!!! Thank you so much to the people who did, for those of you who didn't.. ( picks up scythe and has an evil glint in her eyes) The Dark Angel will KILL you! OMAE O KOROSU!! Anyway, remember, REVIEWS…THEY'RE A GOOD THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS
I know that the HOPE!! On the side of the time machine was borrowed from DBZs Trunks storyline. I LLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE TRUNKS!!! He is the most awesome character!! Thanks for reading, bye!!! And in case any of you are wondering, Kathryn is NOT how you spell Catherine Bloom's name in the storyline. I just spelled it that way because I wanted to name Trowa's kid after my friend and to do that I had to change Catherine Bloom's name.
This chapter is dedicated to KITTYKAT, who has stayed with me through thick and thin, staving off my writer's block. Thank you!!!