Okies, this'll just be a short fic, probably three chapters. I've already got it worked out in my head, I just need the motivation to type it out. (R&R PLEASE!) This was just inspired by the Buffy musical…kinda. All right, I loved the final song, "Walk Through the Fire", or whatever it was called. I realized it really fit a lot of characters well. Add this to my wish to do a Hotaru/Duo fic, and here you go. This is going to turn out completely different then what you'd expect, and as a warning, I'm not making this a romance fic. Sorry H&H fans. I'll probably edit the song lyrics *slightly* but nothing monumental.
I also have the characters a little darker than some people would like. My personal take on this is that a) with her memories returned and considering her past, Hotaru would be a lot like her former self, and take after Setsuna and b) after all the wars and his complete lack of a relationship with Heero (in this fic Duo likes Heero but doesn't know if Heero feels the same, but it's never mentioned save maybe a slight hint in ONE sentence) his past would eventually take it's toll on his mind. THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE ANGSTY HOWEVER. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
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Wow, that's one long Author's Note.
Oh, yeah. Me no own. Don't know who do own. They be smarter than me though. They get paid to write stories. I not.
Peace Love and Anarchy
~The Elemental
Please review!
Some mild swearing. PG 13
Walk Through the Fire
Chapter one:
Shattered Dreams
Groaning as a shaft of sunlight pierced the heavy brocade of her curtains, Hotaru sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Checking the clock at her bedside, she groaned. 6:45 am. On a Sunday. There had to be a law against waking up that early, somewhere. But she got up and dressed, sleep simply wasn't an option anymore.
The dreams had been haunting her for some time now, a month or two she figured. She'd always wake up covered in a cold sweat, knowing something was wrong, but she could never remember what. She would wake with fuzzy after-images from the dream that could have been anything, and the feeling that something important would happen soon. And it wasn't anything good.
Combing her shoulder length hair, she tried to remember what the dream had been about, but as always, nothing came to mind. Sighing, she set her brush down and clasped a Fluorite and Amethyst necklace, a gift from Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna around her neck. She stared at the figure in her mirror.
She'd had one more growth spurt since the fight with Galaxia, and now looked to be perhaps thirteen or fourteen, looking much as she had before she'd died and been reborn. She really wasn't sure how old she was. She was only three if you were counting from when she had been reborn, and was fifteen if you were going from when she lived with her father…
Hotaru quickly shoved the memory into the core of her mind with all the memories of her past, and of Saturn's. Her father had died not that long ago, and she still hurt from the memory. I'd best take a page from Setsuna's book. Everything is placed behind that mental wall. I only see it when I need it. The Guardian of time had taught Hotaru how to create mental blocks not a year ago, when the memories of her past lives were wrecking havoc on her mind. The Senshi of Time and the Senshi of Destruction were 'unique' in that particular way. They alone possessed complete memories of their former lives. Pluto because she had never been reborn, and Saturn because her sprit had granted her the full knowledge she would need to wield the Silence Gliave. Though both tried their best to keep their memories away from their 'normal' lives, it still caused them to be rather cold and withdrawn.
Sighing and summoning a smile, Hotaru banished the dream to the back of her mind. Tugging on her shirt, she stepped out of the room. She climbed downstairs in a pair of tight black jeans and a dark purple turtleneck, with Fluorite earrings completing her ensemble.
Popping her head into the study, she found Setsuna curled up in her favorite chair, reading a book.
"I thought I'd find you here." It was a little known fact that the Guardian of Time never slept. Hotaru knew it, as did Michiru and Haruka.
"You're up early." Setsuna dog-eared her page.
"I couldn't sleep. Whatch'a reading?"
"What am I reading. And it's Dante's Divine Comedy."
"Good book. A little too heavy for morning reading for me though." Hotaru headed for the bookshelves and after much debate, pulled out a thin volume. Curling up in a chair across from her foster mother, Hotaru fell into the book.
It really didn't matter what she was reading. Truthfully, if you had asked, she wouldn't have been able to answer you. She was reading for the sake of reading, just something to pass the time away.
Hours passed, both Senshi enjoying the comfortable silence that had become the norm for them. Hotaru was finishing the final chapter of her book when Michiru stuck her head into the room.
"You're both up already! Well, would you like some breakfast before Haruka eats it all?"
They accepted the invitation and headed towards the kitchen, where the smell of bacon assaulted their senses.
"Bacon?"
"Haruka's cooking. She brought it back from her tour in Canada last month. She keeps telling me that we'll love it but I'm not too sure…"
"Considering some of the other foods she's said we'll 'love', I tend to agree with you…"
"Only one way to find out."
"Michiru! Setsuna! Hotaru! Come and try this out! The Canadian that sold it to me called it 'pemale (sp?) bacon'."
"Just a little bit."
"I'll try a small bite."
"I'll just have some off your plate…"
"You people have no sense of adventure."
********
Duo paced.
And paced.
And paced.
Six Seven Eight. Turn. One Two Three Four—
"Would you please stop that! You ought to get some sleep, we leave in a few hours and you've been up for the last two days solid." Quatre positively glared from his position on the couch.
"Besides. None of us can sleep with you thumping around like that."
"Sorry Q-Man." Duo didn't bother to try to explain that sleep simply wasn't possible anymore. The reason sounded ridiculous to even his ears. Face it Duo, you're afraid of nightmares. They'd all just laugh at you…Well Wufei would. Heero would just glare, then ask about it when we're alone, and Trowa would just look at me, like I've grown a second head. Poor Quatre would try to help me figure it out, but it wouldn't help. His main problem was the fact that he didn't know what about the dream scared him. It'd taken him almost a month before he could remember anything about it, and almost another month to make sense of it. But now, every dream came with the same feeling of something closing in, a pressure on his chest that left him cold and covered in sweat the moment he woke up, like something important was going to happen, something—
Shaking his head, Duo sat down, leaning his back on the couch and propping his head on his knees. He couldn't sleep. He'd only end up dreaming, but still—
Explosions. That was the main focus of the dream. Everything he saw was colored from the fires that surrounded him. He saw their Gundams self-detonate after the final battle a year ago. He saw colonies he didn't recognize explode from some unknown force. Mobile suits fighting and exploding, with the final shrieks of their pilots ringing in his ears. Bodies everywhere, and a woman's voice over everything, speaking something that Duo could hear, but never understand, though he knew she was speaking in English.
He wasn't sure when he slipped from the memories into the dream, but suddenly Duo was there watching everything be destroyed all over again.
It seemed clearer now, more real. He was there, listening to screams and explosions and laughter? That was new, and Duo focused on it. A cold sound, absolutely filled with hate. Duo shuddered, somehow the voice seemed familiar…He had heard it somewhere before…The laughter stopped and the voice spoke. Immediately Dou knew. It was the voice that had haunted all of his dreams, and now he could make out exactly what it was saying. Duo shuddered again…
"We, the members of the TRUE New World Government declare ourselves the rightful rulers of the Earth and Colonies alike. We would like to inform you, our citizens, of the true threats to OUR peace. We have issued warrants for the following members who have been tried for treason and found guilty…"
Duo floated in shock at the carnage around him, unbelieving as this woman rattled off the names of every governmental leader, including the newly elected president and—
"Relina? No way! This dream is seriously F*cked up! I'm—
"And the largest threat to our safety are the five former Gundam pilots! To prevent their continued threat, we have targeted the L7 Colony. If all five pilots do not surrender in the next twelve hours, the colony will be destroyed with everyone in it! Please remember that we do this to protect…"
Duo stared in open shock. "Ok, that's it. I want out of this dream. Now. Not cool, not cool at all. Lets just wake the little Shinigami up and LEAVE ME ALONE! Damn!" Duo watched as the scenes shifted and the woman's voice faded away. Now he watched as five mobile suits…new version Taurus' by the look of it. Immediately he knew it was them…him and the other pilots. He didn't know how he knew, he just did.
They were approaching large resource satellite. One that seemed to be armed to the teeth, odd since they were supposed to have completely disarmed all space colonies and satellites.
Duo watched the battle. Thousands of suits seemed to pour from hatches that were hidden on the satellite until now. For some reason, Duo could hear the radio transmissions of his friends, and of himself…weird. Very, very weird.
"This is going to be one hell of a fight!"
"It's worse than we thought! I recognize these flight patterns! These are Mobile Dolls!"
"Shit!"
"What!?"
"Damn it!"
"They're using the Zero system as well! I don't think we can win this one guys!"
"You said it before Quatre, we're good at these loosing battles!"
"Lets do it!"
Duo watched as the five pilots began the fight…First it looked good…. Then they were holding their own…but soon…they began to fall.
The dream Duo's Taurus suit was surrounded. He would destroy one doll when two more would take its place.
Duo watched in horror as Wufei's Taurus exploded, taking the five surrounding Mobile Dolls with it.
"Wufei! Nooooooo!"
"Quatre behind you!" Duo turned to watch Trowa physically push Quatre's Suit out of the way as a Doll rammed through the space where Quatre had once been. Right through Trowa.
Duo watched the explosion in shock. Ok I really want to wake up now, this is just a dream, please let me wake up now…
"Trowa!"
"NO TROWA!"
"We have to regroup!"
"Heero, I'm running blind! They've destroyed my scanners! I can't even *crash* see you!"
"We're doing this all wrong! We have to destroy the ship! Heero, get Duo out of there! I'm scanning the satellite!"
Moments that seemed like hours passed until
"I've got it! There's a fuel line that *crash* runs directly under the framework of the ship! If we can rupture it…"
"It'll explode! Where is it Quatre!"
Duo stared agape…Would this work?
The dream Duo destroyed the last of his surrounding Dolls with Heero's help and they set off towards Quatre. More Mobile Dolls were being released from their hangers. It was now or never.
"Follow my lead! And don't let the Dolls near us!"
Duo watched as they emptied their last of their ammunition into the satellite. It was no use. A few seconds later another explosion rocked the skies.
"Duo!"
"NO!"
Duo stared. So this is what it's like to watch yourself die. I want to wake up now…Please? His silent question went unheard.
"Keep firing!"
"It's no use Heero! The shielding's too thick for bullets and we don't have anything stronger! I'm going in!"
Quatre sped towards the satellite as fast as he could push his suit to go.
"Quatre!"
"Bullets won't do it, but the explosion of an MS will work. Clear out Heero! I—
Another explosion.
"Damnit Quatre!" Heero sped towards the satellites one weak spot, weaving through the hundreds of Dolls that were focused on him. Just keep dodging. Weave through them, stay alive for a few more seconds. They won't win. I won't let them win! Just a few—
"...No…NO!" Duo moaned. It wasn't right. He was so close! This dream was too much… too much. He just wanted to curl up and die. He had to remember it was just a dream, only a –
Duo shot up, shaking. Everyone else was still asleep.
"I knew I should have stayed awake." Walking quietly, he creeped into the other rooms, checking that everyone was still alive. Re-affirming that it was just a dream. Just a dream.
Coming back into the living room of the safehouse, the preventor removed his jacket and covered a shivering Quatre.
It was cold in here. He fire had gone out in the night, and there was no heating. Kneeling down in front of the hearth, Duo soon had a roaring fire.
Staring into it, the images of death and destruction from the dream seemed to dance in the flames. He shivered and moved closer, but it did little to ease his cold.
Unintentionally, Duo raised a hand towards the fire. He knew he should feel something, but the dreams had begun to take their toil on the pilot. For the life of him, he felt nothing.
A tune, a song from something began to whisper in his mind…. With a start Duo realized that it was from the dream. Something that was hidden underneath the screams and explosions. For the first time Duo could hear it clearly.
I touch the fire and it freezes me
I look into it and it's black
Why can't I feel
My skin should crack and peel
I want the fire back
"Duo? Want some breakfast?"
"Sure buddy." Pulling his hand down, Duo stood and followed Quatre into the kitchen.
"I got a message from Sally. Our fire's been confirmed. They've got a fully armed satellite and probably some Mobile Suits. We're expecting them to declare war within the next 24 hours. We'll be on route to the satellite in two hours. We have to destroy it before they start; it's our only chance. It appears they're planning on attacking the colonies. Sally's got some New Taurus' for us. We have to stop them." Quatre set a plate of French toast in front of Duo and sat across from him with a mug of coffee.
New Taurus'? War? Attacking the colonies? That's too many coincidences…But it's just a dream! Nothing more… Unless…
"Quatre, what's the closest colony to the satellite?"
"The L7 Colony, why?"
"No reason…Just curious I guess…"
It couldn't have been just a dream…. Somehow, Duo had been sent a premonition….
And there wasn't a thing he could do to prevent it.
************