Da-da-dum! (Ominous thunder rolls). This is the last chapter of Book 2, The Hands of Fate! More messages follow, but for now just read and enjoy.
AC 207: The Hands of Fate (Part XIV)
Snow Drifts Down Slowly upon Decimated Souls
"Ah, Christmas Eve," Duo sighed, sipping his eggnog. "The most magical of all evenings, really."
"Only because we ourselves make it so," Trowa said.
"Well, that's what counts, doesn't it?" Wufei said. "The world as it exists is how we decide to view it. I could be in a bad right now because tomorrow I'm leaving for who knows how long, but I'm trying to enjoy my last moments here."
"You sure have gotten docile since you got married," Duo commented.
"Same to you," Wufei bit back.
Heero chuckled to himself, sitting on the floor with his book, facing the fireplace.
"Dinner's on, guys." Relena appeared from the kitchen. She was followed by a waft of warm, sweet-smelling air.
"All right!" Duo jumped up and swept his son into his arms. "Man, I can smell that Chicken. C'mon, Vince."
"Who knew," Phailin said, proudly presenting the bird. "Maybe I can cook."
Everyone dished up and found themselves a place at the dining room table. Most of them hadn't been aware there was a dining room until Relena had begun to clean it up that afternoon. It was snowing outside, piling up against the bottom edge of the picture windows. The woods nearby looked enchanted. Heero sat down at the head of the table, poured his warmed mulberry wine and waited for the others to settle down. There were fourteen of them; himself, Relena, Akiko and Raina; Milliardo and Noin; Trowa and his new lady Anja; Wufei and Phailin; Vincent the elder; and Duo, Sophie and the baby. Mariemaia had ignored her invitation. Quatre and Une hadn't been able to make it back from the fleet, perhaps in perspective a better Christmas present for Quatre, Heero reflected. It still seemed strange to see Milliardo and Noin wearing rings. Raina was already forming words. It had all happened so fast.
The crystal rang as he tapped it lightly with his fork. "Before we start," he said, "I would like propose a toast."
"Hear hear," some of the others said, shooting him grins.
"Get it on!" Duo yelled playfully.
(Unheard, something in Duo's hair said MMPHSQUEAK!)
"Over the past year and a half, which to most if not all of us seemed like mere seconds of our lives, so much has changed. Time rolls over our shoulders like water, and sometimes so does blood. It is unavoidable, this thin red line we stand on, but for every one of us our efforts not to fall to either side are commendable. The world we live in is harsh and sometimes cruel, but we've all found our own way to survive. As Duo said just a few minutes ago, tonight is magical, whether it be because of Santa Claus or as a last retreat before another hard journey. Every one of us here— and some of us that aren't— deserve thanks and warmth, good food and good company. Thank you all for being here, and please give thoughts to those who couldn't."
"To us!" echoed the entire table, clinking glasses and cutting into their food. Life on a whole could never be disappointing, Relena thought, watching her daughter answer questions about what she was getting for Christmas.
"Well, I told Santa I wanted the war to stop," Akiko said earnestly, "but he said that other people have to work that out for themselves."
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Christmas Eve. It was Christmas Eve.
Marie secluded herself to the corner of the lounge, intent on avoiding the festivities. Christmas was always a time of mourning for her, enhancing the cruel memories she would just as soon forget.. She missed Trowa, missed his comfort and blind love.
She was nineteen now. She embittered herself on her past once again, all the way to when she was barely three. She had met her father occasionally, usually for brief spans of minutes, but at this particular Christmas it had been for almost two weeks. Her dying mother had smuggled him into their house late one night while Dekim was away and he'd taken her away to his secluded house deep in the European wood. She had been frightened and confused, especially when Dekim came for her. But what she had felt then really didn't matter anymore.
"I don't suppose you've ever really celebrated Christmas, huh?" Can took the seat opposite her, his face flushed and voice slightly slurred. "You should have no reason not to, you know. We've been in good spirits and could probably take Beliv's army right now if it weren't Christmas n'all."
"My reasons are my own," she replied tersely. "You're drunk, Cam."
He shook his head. "M'not, I promise. I had one beer and that's it. I've jus' been out on the dance floor a little too much. And don't think I know why you're being this way, either. Can't you just get over damn man for one night and have some fun? I bet a lot of crew members would feel less uncomfortable around you if you even acted like one of us as much as you claim to be one."
Even the mention of it made her uneasy.
"Oh, come on, it's Christmas, Mariemaia. Doesn't he deserve a break?" He popped a colorful candy into her open hand "Loosen up a little, huh?"
Marie sighed and put it in her mouth. "I just don't want to be here," she said.
Cam looked over at the mass of the jubilee and stood. He offered his hand. "Now that you mention it, it does seem kind of stuffy in here."
Marie found herself considering. "I suppose I'd been waiting for company after all."
The rest of the ship seemed so strange and abandoned. There was the occasional murmur or laugh as someone made their way to or from somewhere. The echo of the engines was somewhat hair-raising.
"Just relax for a while," Cam scolded lightheartedly. He dug through a box he'd pulled from underneath his bunk and found a bottle of champagne. "This isn't the best out there, but I like it fine."
Marie watched as he poured the wine, then sipped it cautiously. "Yes, it's all right." It was getting to be late, but she didn't feel tired. Cam's crew cabin was small, but he had done his best to make it home. He had somehow situated a small couch on one wall and his bed against the other, with boxes of personal belongings under both. They sat together on his small couch, sipping champagne like old friends. The lights were low.
"What are you trying to prove, about my father I mean?" The words just slipped out. "And don't say because he was really a nice, decent guy or whatever. That isn't provable." In the following seconds she realized how stupid she sounded. Cam was, if anyone, the person who never disguised his intentions and opinions from her.
He looked surprised. "I though we'd agreed we wouldn't talk about him. All it does is upset you Marie, and I don't want that now."
What he did want . . . she knew, but she didn't understand why he thought she'd feel the same. "It's not about him. It's why you insist on lecturing me."
"Cam studied the floor, as if he would find an explanation there. "My father was an officer that was close to him. I grew up around Treize, and I liked. He was good with kids. He liked my friends and me and spent time with us. I don't think you really know what he was like. Someone who hated him raised you. I mean, I'm sorry that you suffered under his name, but you shouldn't blame him."
"That's not what I meant and you know it. Why do you personally want me to know?"
He reddened a little. "I hate to see people hurting," he said quietly. "That's why I asked you here. You're so stressed that you don't even know it. I can't stand to not do anything when I know someone is so lost."
His heart was in the right place. She couldn't help but smile at how incredibly sweet that was. Despite her discomfort about her father, she realized she probably was angrier at Dekim. After all, she had reclaimed her father's name. "That's very unselfish, but I can't assure you that you aren't wasting your time."
He moved closer to her and his leg brushed against hers— almost not on purpose. "If you'll allow me some insight, Commander Khushrenada, I think you've let other people's fear of a repeating history influence your thoughts and actions. I think it's gotten to the point where you're afraid of yourself."
She turned away, trying to avoid his imploring stare. "Thank you for the concern, Cam, but I have lived my entire life avoiding my public image, not immersing myself in it."
"Says one of the most admired, most agreeable beautiful women in the world?"
She did look up, startled. His face was earnest, but a bit disbelieving. "Who says that?"
He smiled. "Who says that, honey? Just about everyone! You're telling me you didn't even notice? I know people— guys and girls both— who would give their right arm to be in my position right now. You're wanted. You're desired. You're admired at levels eve your father never equaled. You're the symbol of blink justice hurtling steadfast into chaos. You convey warmth and control because you're a woman. No one questions you. No one loses faith when they're with you. And yet . . . I . . . I who am as close to you as anyone . . . feel so completely at a loss."
Suddenly she realized that it wasn't pity in his expression. He was enamored of her. She felt like a fool for not noticing, for not acknowledging. It was a shock, though not unpleasant. She laughed. "What a pitiful pair we make, lost and confused and trusted to save the galaxy from oblivion—"
In one quick movement, Cam seized her face with his hand and kissed her. It was obviously meant as something short, friendly, but when she didn't flinch away he stayed. Marie felt her pulse race, pounding through her face, ans he let herself surrender, realizing just how badly she had needed the reprieve. Finally, they broke off and she put her head on his shoulder, unable to keep it up.
"Last night I got to thinking a lot," he murmured, running his fingers through her tangled curls. "And I realized I had nothing to lose— and everything to gain— if I made the effort to help you have a merry Christmas."
"Is this some kind of mission," she asked, "of mercy, by orchestration of my father?"
"What?"
"He chases me, my father's ghost," she explained, no longer caring what he'd make of it. "Ben says I'm crazy, but I swear it's true. I just can't . . . get away from him. You'd think if he cared he'd just leave me alone . . ."
"It doesn't surprise me in the slightest. It sounds like something he would do. He talked about you all the time, you know." Cam shifted a little and put his arms around her.
"He'll never get it," she said. "Even if my suffering wasn't purely his fault, I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for his and my mother's stupidity. My mother payed her price, but he just didn't learn."
Cam was prepared to protest but realized she was not going to let opposition in at this point. Her tactic on life was much like hers in battle, blunt force. She was trembling, and he knew how she felt.
She kissed him again. Still leaning limp against him. "Thank you for being sensitive."
Resolution comes quickly for someone who claims to be unforgiving, Cam thought.
It was Christmas.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Ah, Christmas. Such a meaningful day for so many people for so many different reasons. In memory of the great wars of the past, let the war now go on!
Dorothy had been presented with five colonies for Christmas. They weren't newly captured (curse those Phantom Runners and that foolish Khushrenada girl!) but they were useful in many respects. She demanded top production from the asteroid mines and full production from the factories. From the colonies all the young able men were needed. It was a war, no time to be picky.
"I'll miss Earth when it's gone," she said idly to Erik. "There is some things that are unique, but we have no time to grieve for something that's already been destroyed."
"We have to save the important things, but that list is so short that it barely matters," he replied. "Have the preparations been made?"
"Of course, Admiral." Dorothy saluted. "Operation Santa Claus is in effect as of now."
"Good luck. Out." The transmission ended.
Dorothy laughed. Oh, this was going to be so much fun!
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Quatre lay awake late into his sleep cycle, a little unsure as to why. That ship that they'd passed through a few days ago seemed suspicious to him, although they'd heard no ill reports on it. It was going to Earth, which just seemed wrong to him.
Aliens . . . could it really be true? It just seemed too fantastic. A private conversation earlier with Une revealed that she was uneasy about it. Even if it was true— and they had not evidence but vague clues that could well have been faked— what were the possibilities that they would understand human politics. Life and culture had such variety that it was almost impossible to imagine them being in any way similar as peoples.
For what was possibly the first time, he wondered how much Trowa had found out. They hadn't spoken in so long. Quatre was starting to get the feeling that perhaps Trowa thought they had become too distant. Perhaps it was time to let go.
In the meantime, he wondered how Heero's party was going.
He wondered if Mariemaia had gone home for a while. He knew Heero had offered her safe passage.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Mariemaia awoke quickly, for a moment frightened at the unfamiliar surroundings. What was the sudden feeling in the pit of her stomach that she'd said or did something that would ruin herself? She hadn't had that much to drink, but the last hours had become so blurred in her mind . . .
She fled his room, afraid of what anyone who saw her would think. If something had come up, Dennis and Ben would be wondering where she was. She needed to discuss this with someone and get the guilt off her chest, but her choices were too limited. The gundam that didn't trust her was her only option.
She couldn't. Marie stood under the dimmed lights looking up at the great mechanical monster. Fortuna's deep green body and blackest wings were too cold, too distant and overpowering. The gundam was so intimidating, and her already weakened spirit almost fled her body. She stood on the middle level, where Fortuna's narrow, almost delicate hands rested together on her right. She'd never really had that much time to examine the features of Fortuna's head, but with the eyes dimmed it seemed as if they were actually closed. Carefully sculpted lips were parted slightly, and the eyebrows beneath the crest of the helmet were thin and feathery, as if they were real. It made her shiver.
"What have I done?" she whispered. "What am I supposed to do now?"
She'd never before noticed how textured Fortuna's hands were until she climbed into the outstretched palms. They, too, were warm like the cockpit, and an exhausted Marie curled up and began to fall asleep inside them.
"What is it in this world that makes us so vulnerable to things purely immaterial?" she asked, trying to figure out why she felt so used.
"That is the greatest mystery to me", someone said.
Marie lifted her head out her arms and saw that Fortuana's hands had moved to provide a more protective cover for her. She was only beginning to contemplate how that could have happened when they moved again. She nearly screamed and clung desperately to the creases of the gundams hands. Fortuna cradled her to her chest, almost as if she was trying to comfort her. It was supposed to be impossible for her to move without a pilot. "What is this?" she looked up at Fortuna's face.
Her eyes had been closed. The green glowing metal slid upward swiftly to reveal deep hazel eyes with slit pupils and whites around the edges. She blinked again, great watery eyes scanning her. "You humans are such detailed creatures, so beautiful and so complex. It is so puzzling to see such a great conflict in a race as advanced as you are." Suddenly, it looked like she was smiling. "Perhaps I should not have been so presumptuous."
This has got to be a dream, Marie told herself. This was just too much for twenty-four hours of living. Fortuna . . . Fortuna was alive.
"This universe is a fantastic place, Mariemaia Khushrenada. I will happy to one day show you the beauty it conceals. But for now, you are tired. Sleep." They were feathers, great immense ones. With a great swish and a rush of air she folded them around her, cradling the young broken woman in a bed of soft warm almost-flesh. Marie, too tired to argue and much too tired to resist, curled up against the slick feathers and fell asleep, held securely in the arms of the gundam called Fate.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
"So what are the kids getting for Christmas, Heero?" Phailin asked.
Heero put his finger to his lips. "You'll see in the morning, I promise. I made Kik promise she'd wake us up before she went to go open the presents."
"I might have a Christmas present for all of you, too," Noin said, and she and Milliardo both grinned.
"I thought we'd agreed to give up on the conspiracy," Relena joked.
"We're going to have to leave as soon as the Big Moment's over. I have to get everything moved down to my clan before dark." Phailin closed her eyes and leaned against Wufei. The news of the sudden change had taken all but a few of them by surprise.
"Do you really think moving is necessary, Wufei? Bankok is a pretty anonymous city," Trowa said.
"She's got a bounty on her head, Trowa, and I'm not willing to risk it. It isn't that I don't think she's a competent woman in her own right, but I'm not taking any chances." Wufei hugged his wife's small waist tighter.
"I truly don't mind all that much," Phailin insisted. "I haven't spent more than a few weeks with my family in almost ten years. It'll do me good to get away from the strict schedule of the city and train of my own accord."
"We shouldn't try and run their lives, Trowa," Anja said quietly. "You've asked quite enough out of Wufei as it is."
The five couples and Vincent sat quiet for a moment, the fire crackling gently and the snow still falling outside. Heero turned to the dark young man. "I bet it seems strange, being the only single guy here. It feels like I barely know you, but you saved my wife's life. Why don't you tell us a little about yourself, Vincent?"
Vincent grinned sheepishly, long black hair falling over his narrow shoulders. The lanky lad was taller and much more slightly built than Trowa, but his manner was nearly identical most of the time. He was a very mysterious kid, really. "There's not really much to tell. Actually, I suffered a bad accident when I was ten and my memory was pretty much wiped out. I can only go with what people tell me, but I was adopted. I know my parents were killed in a local scuffle during a mobile suit battle, but I don't know where. I've wanted to be a pilot as long as I can remember, and I was good enough to join the specials when I was seventeen. My life was pretty routine until Tovah and I were summoned to go steal Beliv's archives. Orders came to get put into the onboard prison and we did so. We got snatches of news and figured out that Ms Relena's been captured and realized what our objective was. The rest is pretty much history."
"And I'll, once again, be eternally grateful," Heero said.
"So that's it? No one even told you where you were from, who your parents were or anything else about yourself?" Trowa looked puzzled and slightly concerned. "That just doesn't seem right to me."
"Trust me, I've spent many long nights searching for that stuff. I've met a lot of people with the same problem. It's not that I'm not suspicious, but when you don't know who you might have been you can stop worrying about it and live for the moment. That's an advantage I've discovered."
Heero smiled. "That sounds so very brutally familiar."
Noin looked at the clock. It was nearing one in the morning. "I should go and check to make sure the little cherubs are sleeping before we perform our Santa Claus duties," she said, getting up. Milliardo smiled as he watched her go. Still fresh from a honeymoon (which had meant frequent trips to the Sanc Kingdom on Relena's part), they seemed very excited about the whole prospect. Considering that they were both in their thirties, Relena reminded herself, they had a right to be enthusiastic about the definitive commitment.
A moment later, their was a crash and a thump. They all jumped, and both Milliardo and Heero rushed out of the room, the former bellowing his wife's name in panic. When no answer could be heard, the rest of them all took to their feet. Relena, closely followed by Duo and Sophie, took the stairs two at a time and stopped dead just at the entrance to the bedroom that all three of the children had been sharing.
They got there just in time to see Heero leap out the shattered window into the snow. Millardo was cradling Noin's head in his lap, where she had been beaten unconscious. The children were gone.
"No," Relena whispered, grasping the doorframe to stay standing.
Duo cursed and ran to the window. "There's no way Heero's gonna catch that car," he said hoarsely.
The front door slammed as Vincent made his own desperate attempt at a chase. He leapt into his rented convertible and gunned the engine viciously. Heero made a flying leap for the car as if raced past and managed to tumble into the backseat. Zero had been put deep into the woods and couldn't be retrieved now under such urgent conditions.
His trusty nine-millimeter appeared from somewhere and Heero took aim below and slightly to the left of the left red taillight. There was no pop as he failed to hit the tires. He couldn't see them in the dark. Heero wasn't going to risk injuring his daughters and aim for the driver.
Two or three rounds were fired back just as they pulled side to side, and Vincent suddenly yelled in pain and swerved. They crashed into a snowbank on the side of the recently plowed road. Heero nearly snapped his neck as he turned to see the kidnappers drive off and fade into the Christmas night.
"I'm okay, not that anyone cares," Vincent said. "I might bleed to death, but I think I can still move my legs."
His mind numb, Heero turned to the kid. He'd taken a bullet to try and get the children back. Vincent moaned and clutched at his side. "I think my rib got it, but man."
Heero cut the boy's seatbelt and laid him down in the snow, cut off his shirt and used it to stem the bleeding. "Yeah, just a surface puncture," he assured the kid. His voice sounded mechanical. His hands were shaking. His chest stung, and only then did he realize the bullet had grazed him before burying itself in Vincent's rib cage.
An ambulance from the nearest community was summoned and Vincent was taken to be cared for at the hospital there. As it left, screaming into the bloodred sunrise, Heero knelt in the snow as if he couldn't move. His children, his priceless children were gone.
"What happened?" Noin demanded, sitting up quickly despite the pounding in her skull.
"The children have been kidnapped," Milliardo said, rewetting the warm cloth against her forehead. "Settle down. There's certainly nothing you can do at this point. It's not your fault, sweetheart."
The rest gathered together, moving slowly with shock and disbelief. What had once been an invulnerable fortress had been infiltrated in only a moment and shattered in only slightly more than that. Sophie was sobbing against a stricken Duo, staring off into empty space as if his mind had frozen up entirely.
Heero staggered into the room, bleeding across the chest and covered with new-fallen snow, and immediately wrapped his arms around his shaken wife. "We'll have them back," he vowed, "if I die trying."
"Only Erik Beliv would do something so evil," Wufei said, fists clenched tight with rage. The moment I get to the Phantom Runners I'll make sure we get his head. This— this atrocity will not go unjustified."
"How very, very sick," Trowa muttered quietly, trembling as much as the rest.
Far from home, Quatre wondered if anybody else was sleeping.
Tzuzuku (to be continued). . .
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Well, I think that's pretty good for one day's worth of writing. I'll go through and fine-tune it when I have time. I'm planning on doing a Chapter fifteen in the same style as AC 206 so I need some input! Reviews work, since I have Reviewalert (hint, hint). It'll be a little longer before I start AC 208: The Search for Truth because my grades are sinking like rocks, so you can expect it about mid-June or so. Yeah, waah waah but I kind of am required to have a life at some point or another (Plus my boyfriend's a senior and I kinda want to spend time with him before he leaves me, you know).
Well, that about covers the news. *yawns* Must get to bed.
-Itsumo