By Mystical Star
A Kitty-Chan Production
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any related characters; however, the new characters and their Gundams were my idea. Severina's name was Zero's idea, to whom I am very grateful. Thanks, Z!
Author's Note: Okay, when I said "Only one chapter left" I was being technical, see and Epilogue isn't a chapter, it's a conclusion to a story, but anyway…It would mean a lot to me if you reviewed this story and let me know what you think, this is a remake of my first fan fiction—EVER. If you want to check it all out, including side stories, please go visit Kitty-Chan Productions. There should be a new section up soon.
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Epilogue One month after chapter seven-2:00 PM
All of the Preventers stood in the middle of a park at a ceremony for the two who lost their lives in the recent "incident", as the press was calling it. Relena had given her speech, thanking both Hilde and Kenji for their noble sacrifices. Lady Une was speaking at the moment, although Duo's head was somewhere else.
Kat was sitting next to him, holding Duo's hand, not only to support him but for her own comfort. For reasons unknown to even Kat herself, she hated death.
"And it is in their honor, that we erect this monument," Lady Une finished as she motioned to a large stone structure behind her. It was in the shape of an angel with a long flowing gown, holding out her hand as if to guide the lost souls to heaven. There was a stone plaque at her feet with this inscription:
In Honor ofHilde Scheiker and Miyabi Kenji
Whose honorable sacrifice
Saved the colonies
"And yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve;
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you remember and be sad"
Severina was sitting next to Kat, holding her head down. Quatre was next to her with his arm over her shoulders. Li, who was next to Quatre, had his eyes closed and his hands together and was silently praying. Tom sat there in between Li and Heero with his arms crossed, looking distressed. Heero, as always, sat there staring, not allowing anyone to know his feelings. Relena was next to him, mourning the loss of one of her friends.
Trowa and Wufei were standing at either end of the podium that Lady Une was speaking from. Each held a flag; Trowa held the World Nation's flag and Wufei held the Preventer flag. Neither looked too pleased. However, Heavyarms pilot had something pressing on his mind, something he needed to get off of his chest.
"-We hold our memories of them close to our heart, their sacrifice is not in vain," Lady Une finished.
As the ceremony ended, Tom stood up quickly and pushed his way through the crowd to get back to his quarters. He felt overwhelmed with sadness for some strange reason. This felt so familiar somehow. But how? He had no family-not that he could remember anyway, so why did death feel so familiar? At any rate, he hated to cry in front of people-he began to walk faster.
As he walked, the pain of losing one of his friends jogged something in his memory. The young Australian man stopped, seeing images that seemed all to real. Fire, fire everywhere. Someone familiar pushing Tom to safety. Hands, pounding on glass to get away from the fire. Tom had wanted to save them, but he couldn't. What was he remembering?
"It's just like that dream…" He murmured as he pushed his bangs out of his face and continued to walk.
As Thomas Parks finally reached his quarters in the housing facility. As he pulled his key out of his pocket, he noticed an envelope taped to his door. The young man raised an eyebrow and took down the letter and opened it.
To Gundam Pilots Heero Yuy, Anya Katsumi, Thomas Parks, Severina Yamato, and Li Chun:
Please meet me in meeting room 2 in the Executive Building at 3:30—this is urgent.
-Lady Une
Preventer Executive Building-Meeting Room 2-3:30 PM
Five Gundam pilots filed into the meeting room, all curious as to why they were called here.
"Good afternoon," the Lady greeted. "As good as it can be, I suppose" Li stated, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Please, sit," she motioned to the chairs around the table, "I know today is not a good day for any of us, but this is an urgent matter," Lady Une said.
"Are there any more threats to the peace?" Heero asked as he sat. Une shook her head. "No, thankfully. What I have to say regards all of your pasts."
All eyes lay on Lady Une. This is not going to be easy, she thought.
"A month ago, Trowa Barton sought out the Gundam Technician, Dr. J. regarding something he'd heard about during Operation Meteor. It's a formula called S.I.A., or Synthetically Induced Amnesia. As the name suggests, it causes amnesia. And that is why none of you remember your pasts."
All five of the pilots were in silent shock. They sat there, trying to understand. "I must ask you before I continue, have any of you had odd dreams that feel too real to be just dreams? More like memories?"
"Yeah, so what's that got to do with anything?" Tom asked. "S.I.A. wears off after a while, but if I was to tell you about yourself your brain would become severly confused and you may suffer seizures or coma," Lady Une explained. Kat, Heero, Severina, and Li nodded. The Preventer Executive pulled five file folders out of her brief case and opened the first one and pulled out a picture.
"Anya Katsumi, your mother's name was Mai and your father's was Kiyone. You had a little brother, Taro. Your mother was a delegate from your colony who desperately fought for peace, that's why terrorists attacked your home," Lady Une said as she handed the picture to Kat. Angel's pilot stared at the picture. Mama, Papa? Taro? Is that why I have these nightmares?
"Thomas Parks, we have no information on your parents, except that they had recently moved to the colonies from Australia with you and your older brother. You and he were on a train inside the colony when, due to driver error, yours and another train collided. You escaped," The Lady continued as she handed a picture to Tom.
"Yamato Severina, you, your parents and older sister were part of the original Operation Meteor, working with Instructor H. The operation failed when the Earth Sphere found the base and killed all but you. You escaped, and since your sister was to be the original pilot for Darksaber, you were given that role," Lady Une handed Severina a picture that brought tears to the Darksaber's pilot.
"Chun Li,"
"I was the earliest to be released, and I was the first to regain my memories. I know that my mother, wife, and son were massacred when the Dragon clan decided to raid our shrine. I don't care to know more," Li interjected as he looked away.
How can he know all that and still not hold any hate towards Wufei or his clan? It's amazing, Tom thought.
"Well, with that said, there is only one pilot that has no memories due to S.I.A.," Lady Une said, taking a deep breathe. She took out the last file folder and extracted a picture.
"Heero, we don't know if you remember anything before your training, but we do know that you were not injected with S.I.A.. Kenji was the last pilot who was infected with it. And unfortunately, he is not here to hear this, but you are,"
Heero raised an eyebrow. What did Kenji have to do with him?
"Miyabi Kenji was separated from his family when he was very young and was taken in by Operation Meteor to train to become a pilot in case Wufei would fail in some way. Nobody knows what became of his family, but we do know of his twin brother,"
Suddenly, it hit Wing Zero's pilot.
"Heero, Kenji was your brother,"
The room was silent for an uneasy moment. "Thank you, Lady Une. I uh, I need some time to digest this all," Katsumi said as she stood and walked out of the room.
"I understand, you may all go now, unless you would like to stay for a while." The Lady dismissed.
"Give us a few days," Li sighed. Lady Une nodded and the remaining four pilots walked out of the room.
Meanwhile, in the Housing Facility's lounge…"And that is what Lady Une is telling them right now," Trowa finished his explanation of his absence and the new pilots' odd behavior to Duo, Quatre, and Wufei.
"Damn those scientists, they screw with everybody's lives," Duo muttered.
"So that's the reason for Severina's nightmare?" Quatre asked. "Yes, I'm assuming since she was yelling about 'no more injections', she must have found out about the S.I.A. and was remembering receiving a shot." Trowa explained.
"I bet that Tom, Kat, and Li have had some freaky breakdowns too," The braided American wagered. "It's almost certain. Memories usually come back in the form of a dream or a vision triggered by a similar incident occurring now,"
"Like when Kat wouldn't finish off the Lunar Base," Quatre noted. "More than likely," Trowa stated.
"We must all be respectful of their wishes, I believe it would be wise not to say anything about this unless they say something to us," Wufei advised from his spot, leaned up against the wall. The other three pilots nodded. Duo stood.
"I think I'm going to pack up, I'm heading back to the shop.*" He sighed, his heart beginning to ache again with the absence of Hilde. "When will you be leaving?" Quatre asked.
"Eh, I don't know. Probably in a couple days, I'll let you know," Duo replied.
"You're leaving?" a voice asked from the doorway. The four Gundam pilots looked towards the door to see Relena Darlian standing there.
"Relena?" Quatre asked, obviously surprised.
"I came to find Heero, Lucrezia just told me about Kenji and, well, I was worried about him," The young woman explained. Wufei snorted, but said nothing. "I also came to let you all know about a little get-together we'll be having here for all of you pilots, to thank you," Relena added.
"It'll be in two days, I hope you all will come,"
"We'll all be there," Duo said.
Two Days Later…
All of the remaining Gundam pilots had gathered at the housing facility's lounge for one last get-together before they all departed. Of course, the festivities were a little down-beat, considering the past month's events, everybody was enjoying themselves.
Everyone was sitting on the couches and chairs, talking to one another. Nobody had brought up the idea of their pasts until Tom mentioned something.
"You know, it's weird," He said. Li looked at him. "What's weird?"
"Even though I know about myself now, I still don't remember a thing. It's just weird knowing what happened but in reality, not knowing at all," Parks sighed.
"I hate that this is what happens during war, people's lives are messed with, people die for no good reason…" Severina muttered.
"We are a product of war," Heero stated unemotionally.
"I refuse to be a product of hate!" Kat practically yelled, pounding her fist on her chair's arm rest. "I won't be a part of an endless waltz," She added, looking away to a dark corner.
"We don't have to be," Trowa interjected. "Although our pasts are scewed, our futures are still ahead of us. If we live in the past, we are bound to repeat our mistakes and the mistakes of others, continuing a deadly dance," He said, almost poetically.
There was silence for a few seconds, people taking in what their comrade had said. Li was the first to speak.
"He's right, as we live our futures, our pasts will become more clear, and then we can be happy again. We just have to live for that moment," he said.
Something about that statement jogged Kat's memory. "When you no longer know where you are going, you must look to where you have come. Then perhaps, you will find your way," a voice told her.
"When you get lost…remember where you came from," She murmered.
"Hm?" Severina looked at her friend. "Somebody told me a long time ago that when you don't know where you're going anymore to look back to where you came from, then you'll find your way again," Katsumi recited.
Trowa smiled as Heero raised the cup of punch that he was holding and said, "To finding our way,"
That night, although the nine young people had felt lost, they suddenly realized that they weren't really lost at all. They were together.
The End
If you are interested in reading any of the side stories about Kat, Severina, Tom, Li and Kenji's pasts (that go into great detail), please visit my site, Kitty-Chan Productions.
Thanks so much to Zero who helped me with Severina's character and all of the great ideas that she gave me. Zero wrote Severina's side story and a sort of epilogue to this story, check it out on my site!
The poem on the monument to Kenji and Hilde is NOT MINE! It's from a poem called "Remember" by Christina Rosetti.
Notes:
*Referring to the shop that he and Hilde ran after Endless Waltz (or at least, that's what it looked like).