Chapter Three: A Tragic Present

Suddenly, his living room was filled with light. Then, Herro heard a familiar voice. " Ha ha ha! Come out, and know me better man!" " Oh God." Herro groaned. " Not him." He then got up and walked into his living room.

All the lights were lit up. All the furniture had been replaced by a long table. On it were the foods of a Christmas feast. And at the front of the table was the man Herro dreaded. Duo Maxwell.

" Hey Herro!" he greeted. He then walked up to Herro and gave him a friendly slap on the back. " Merry Christmas!" he said cheerfully. Herro gave him a weird look. Then, he looked disgusted when he realized who he was. " Ghost of Christmas past, right?" he asked. " Boy, you're smart." The spirit kidded. " Look," Herro said. " I don't know what my problem is, or why you spirits have to come to me, but I'd like you all to leave and let me sleep!"

" Oh, don't be so grumpy." The spirit said. " Come on. Lets go out, have some fun, go to some parties, eat some food, meet some girls." " I will do nothing of the sort!" Herro snapped. " Man, how am I going to get you to come with me?" the spirit asked. " Hey, I got it! Now I may be just a spirit, but I know something you've wanted to do to the real Duo. So, I give you this proposition. Come with me, and I will allow you to pull my braid." Herro lifted an eyebrow. He wouldn't admit it, but he had had urges to pull Duo's long braid. For a moment, he was silent. Then, he sighed, and reluctantly took the braid in his hand. He then gave it a hard yank. " Ooowww!" the spirit yelled. " I said you could pull it, not yank it off." Herro made a small smirk.

Then, the two appeared outside the apartment building. It was still dark. " Herro Yuey," the spirit said, " Welcome to Christmas Morning!" At that moment, the darkness turned to light, as night became day. Then, people appeared out of nowhere.

Now, kids ran through the snow-covered streets, crying out in joy, with their parents following. " Look at this Herro." The spirit said, as the two began to walk forward. " Children playing, parents talking, couples kissing. Isn't it wonderful?" " No." Herro said. " I can think of a thousand different things these people could be doing that is more useful." " Well, so can they." The spirit said.

" But this is the time when people don't do those things. This is the time for people to enjoy life, have fun, and celebrate the best of times." " A waste…" Herro muttered. " You know," the spirit said, " I know someplace where we could have a lot more fun."

Then, the two appeared in front of a large mansion. " This is Relena's mansion." Herro said. " This was where she was going to hold her… Christmas party." A look of disgust came over his face. " Well," the spirit said, " What do you say we join the party." Then, the two seemingly walked through the closed front door.

Inside was a lively party. Everyone was talking about the holiday, and the anniversary of the end of the wars. Herro's eyes first set upon a group of young men he knew. They were the other Gundam pilots. " Why don't we see how your friends are doing." The spirit said. The two then walked up to the group of young men. It didn't surprise Herro to see that he wasn't there, but it did surprise him when he saw that Quatra wasn't there either. But, he mearly brushed the thought away, and listened to the men talk.

" This is a fine party." Troaw said. " Yeah." Duo replied.

" Relena does know how to run a great party." " Yes." Milliardo said. " But I know someone who could ruin it all." " Please," Wufei said. " Don't talk about about him." " Aww, come on guys," Duo said. " He's not that bad." " Oh really." Milliardo said. " Well, in my opinion, he's the meanest and most bitter person I ever met. Why, you should hear what he did to Relena yesterday. I should punch him for what he did." " Well," Troaw said. " I guess that's all we can expect. I mean, that is Herro you know."

The second Herro heard his name, a bit of sadness ran through him. He never thought his fellow pilots could hate him so much. " Well," the spirit said uneasily. " Why don't we see how the ladies are doing."

So, the two walked past the men to a group of men. They were basically the girlfriends of the Gundam pilots, with the exceptions of Relena, Lady Une, and Marimaya. Again, Herro was surprised when he saw that Dorothy was not there also. It was getting a bit weird, but he again brushed the idea away and listened. The women were talking, all looking happy. All, except for Relena. She now sat in a chair, looking sad and depressed.

" Miss Relena," Marimaya asked. " What's wrong?" " Oh, it's nothing." Relena said. " I'm just… thinking." " Please Relena." Sally-Po said. " Tell us what's troubling you. It's hurts to keep things inside that make you sad."

" I know." Relena said sadly. " It's… it's just Herro. I wish he could have come." " Now Relena," Hilde said. " You know that Herro would never come to a party like this, let alone any social gathering." " She's right." Catherine said. " It's just Herro's nature."

" I know." Relena sighed. " It's just… yesterday, I went to invite him to the party." " That was nice of you." Marimaya said. " That's what I thought." Relena said. " But when I got there, he said he was too busy to come. I didn't believe him, so I walked in. Then, I saw his laptop. He was working on things he had worked on during the wars. I told him the work was now useless, and I turned it off. That made him very angry. Then,… he yelled me out of his apartment."

" Why that arrogant soldier!" Lady Une said. " How dare he yell at you! You of all people don't deserve to be yelled at."

" Yeah!" Hilde agreed. " I wouldn't stand for such a thing. Why, if he did something like that to me, I send Duo out to give him a God of Death punch!" " Miss Relena," Marimaya asked. " I personally don't see how you can deal with such a man." " I know." Relena said. " But I guess you can stand anything from a man, if you love him."

" She… loves me?" Herro asked. " Great job, lover boy!" the spirit said, elbowing him in the ribs playfully. Then, Herro did something that he had not done in his life. He made a wide smile.

" Are you alright?" the spirit asked. " I thought Herro Yuey never smiled." " I'm fine." Herro said. " I've never been so fine in my life! Relena loves me! She really loves me! And… I love her too!"

" Don't you see Herro?" the spirit explained. " This is what Christmas is all about. Without love, Christmas could not exist. It binds us together like nothing else can. And it brings us together at this holiday. But, above all, it doesn't do this only on Christmas. It can bind us together, as a family, throughout the entire year."

Suddenly, Herro understood it. He understood the meaning of Christmas. Then, he regretted all the times he had been mean, selfish, bitter, and heartless. He especially regretted yelling at Relena, and now wished he was really at the party.

Then, Lady Une raised he head and looked around.

" Where's Quatra and Dorothy?" she asked. " I believe they left fifteen minutes ago." Catherine said. " They said they were going to go get more punch." " That's weird." Hilde said. " We had more than enough drinks last time I checked."

Suddenly, the door to the mansion swung open, to reveal a terrified Dorothy. Her eyes were wide with fear, showing something horrible had happened. Relena immediately ran to Dorothy. " What's wrong?" Relena asked. " What happened?"

" So horrible!" Dorothy panted. " Quatra… fight…fell…" " Slow down." Relena said. " Take a deep breath, then tell us everything."

Dorothy took a deep breath. " It was so horrible!" she said. " We had just left the party. About ten minutes later, we met up with some muggers. They demanded that we give them all our money, or they would take me for their own purposes. But Quatra wouldn't have it. He fought the men. Then, in an accident, Quatra fell off a bridge." " Oh my God!" Relena exclaimed. " Where is he now?"

" He's being taken to the local hospital." Dorothy explained.

" Then that's where we're going." Relena said. Then, everyone began to leave the party.

Then, Herro and the spirit appeared in a hospital waiting room. In it was everyone from the party, siting in chairs, benches, and even the floor. Some looked hopeful. Others looked sad. Some even looked angry. But none compared to Dorothy. She now cried in her hands, as Relena and Lucrezia tried to comfort her.

Then, the doors to an operating room opened to reveal a doctor. Dorothy stood up. " Miss Catalonia," the doctor began.

" Quatra is alive." Everyone was silent. " But," the doctor continued. " Unfortunately, he has been paralyzed from the neck down. He will most likely be this way for the rest of his life." More tears streamed down Dorothy's face as she heard this. She then ran past the doctor, to see her crippled beloved.

Herro watched this, then looked at the spirit. The spirit glared at Herro, as if he had caused the accident. " What are you looking at?" he asked. " I didn't cause this." " Is that what you think?" the spirit asked. " I suppose you think the muggers are the one's to blame?" " Of course." Herro said. " They were the one's that made Quatra fall off a bridge." " Well, you're wrong!" the spirit said.

" Yes, the muggers caused Quatra's injury, but the one that caused the entire accident was you!" " Impossible!" Herro argued. " How can that be?" " You know, Herro," the spirit said. " Quatra and Dorothy didn't leave the party to get more punch. They left to try to find you, and try to get you to come to the party." " That can't be!" Herro argued. " They know I'd say no." " Yes, they knew that." The spirit said. " But they didn't care. All they knew was you were a friend in need, and they cared enough to help." Herro listened to this, then looked at the doors of the operating room.

" My God." He said. " What have I done? Because of my bitterness, a great man's life has been ruined." Then, Herro looked at the spirit. " Spirit," he asked. " Will Quatra live?" The spirit closed his eyes. " I see his guardian, Rashid." He said. " He is kneeling by a tombstone. He is crying. It is a cry of such sadness and despair. He cries for the loss of what he believes was his greatest friend. Yes, if the future is not changed, the young man will die. But, it will not be because of his paralysis." But before Herro could ask what the spirit meant, the two disappeared.

A moment later, the two appeared in a large cemetery. " Why are we here, Spirit?" Herro asked. " This is where ( cough, cough) you will meet the ( cough) final spirit." The spirit said. Herro looked at the spirit. He looked as if he had aged about sixty years. His hair was now gray. His skin was wrinkled and pale. He looked like an old man. " Spirit," Herro asked. " Do you age?" " Not really." The spirit answered. " My form now shows that my time with you is coming to an end. I believe I will be gone when the clock strikes one." Then, in the distance, bells started to ring, and began to count up to the official time.

One, two, three,

" But spirit," Herro said. " You can't leave! I can learn so much from you!" " There is nothing else you can learn from me." The spirirt said. " Now, you will meet the final spirit who will help you. He is the one known as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come."

Four, five, six,

" You mean future." Herro said. " Yes." The spirit said. " He shall show you what will happen if you are not to change."

Seven, eight, nine,

"Thank you, Spirit!" Herro said. " Thank you for all the help you've given me! You've changed me, into a better man!"

" You're welcome." The spirit said. " May you live on, and be well. Goodbye, Herro Yuey."

Ten, eleven, twelve.

Then, the spirit was surrounded by sparkles of light, as he began to laugh, and say, " Go to him, and know him better man!" And then, he disappeared.