Only Time
By: Zarabeth McGregor
Chapter 22
Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Gundam Wing belong Sunrise and Bandai Agencies and Sailor Moon belongs to…uh…some Japanese person…can't remember the name at the moment…
Okay, peeps, I scudded school so I could write this!
Okay, that wasn't too accurate. No, today, I woke up feeling sick, so I couldn't go to school. I feel better now, so I decided to do something worthwhile…
Questions and/or Comments and Answers/Responses:
Jessica: My lips are sealed *makes zipping motion*
Gotunks: Interesting proposal…yes, I read the WHOLE thing…in fact, if I didn't have it already planned out, I just might consider it…no, I'm serious. Uh, look for my review sometime over the weekend, maybe Saturday…
Megami*Silence: I'm perfectly fine. I'm perfectly sane…I'm one with the sanity. *Glares at anyone who dares to contradict*. Well, since I don't know your home addy, I'll have to email it to you. I wonder how many KBs that'll take up? I'll email on Saturday, I just have a ton of work to do. Love the forward, btw.
Kaiya: You're working on it? You better be, the suspense is killing me! Do you know which dimension you're going to do yet?
Crystal Dragon: Okay, I'm going to be serious: I'm trying my best to get out of the cliffhanger thing, trust me. In fact, I'm actually looking over the upcoming chapters to see if I can cut out some of them, though they can't be helped sometimes. Like this one.
Any other stuff? Okay, uh I'm gonna get a list ready…hope you've got money!
Minimerc: Ooh, are we about to crack too? Hehe!
Jchild: That thick, huh? Well, it gets thicker! Just hope I can maneuver my way out of it when the time comes…
Oldestof3: Lips are sealed!!!
Wicked Lady: Well, I'm glad to see you aren't ready to butcher me…anyway, we'll see…when you say Relena's speech, you mean the very last one, right? Wait, that was the only one, right? Argh! InfoTech's frying my brain!
SweetAngels3: Oh, thank you. Seriously, I strive to make Relena seem somewhere near human…I don't have a problem with any of the GW girls…except Dorothy…something about her rubs me wrong in so many ways. It ain't the eyebrows either…
Callisto-Star: I want a Hee-chan plushie!!! *pouts and folds arms* And a Wing Zero model too!
Myst Lady ML-chan: Actually, it might be ten…it depends, really. How's the fic planning coming along?
Solus Nox: Well, she hangs around Duo quite a bit…actually, I was hoping to surprise you guys with the whole President-Munez-evil-plot thing…as for the action movies, I saw Crouching Tiger once, and that was when it came out first. We both know that was a very long time ago, and my memory isn't the best in the world…Kiss of the Dragon (with my baby, Jet Li! *squeals*) I haven't seen it yet, though I plan to change that over the Christmas break.
Meio-chan: Uh…she was stressed? Or was it really a wonderful plan of hers? I don't know, really.
Britaneia: You love cliffies? Cool! Thank you kindly, by the way.
Silver-Star: Did I just make Li go mad? Yes? Cool! I got skills, yo! *dances to Dilemma which is playing on the radio…however she can't dance, so she ends up injuring herself in the process* Ow…
Lady-Solarity: Uh…no cliffies are good cliffies? *whimpers* Ooh, I hear you. My exams are all the way next June, and I'm already starting to stress. I mean, why should I stress? My results only determine whether or not I'll be able to go to university! *pulls out hair; screams and runs away*
Kid: Aw, thank you, that's sweet!
Angel_Anne: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's been I while since I last saw you…I'm glad you realize that wouldn't be a good idea…besides, I bruise easily…
WikeD tEnShI: Thank you!
~*~
The silence was deafening. Relena's eyes were on the door which President Munez just departed through. My eyes were on her as she regarded it with a look of pure defeat and dismay. Her face suddenly grew older by about ten years, lines I never noticed before showing clearly. She did look so much older than her eighteen years.
Then, with a long, loud sigh, she closed her eyes and turned from the door. She took another deep breath, her shoulders sagging greatly. The weight of the world it seemed like. Her hair fell into her face messily. The candle had been replaced and lit.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered softly, I barely heard her. She sighed again and fixed her eyes on mine. It could've been the dim light of the candle, but her eyes were now a dark blue. "So sorry."
I said nothing. I knew what she meant. She thought she failed me. I was going to die here with her if anything and she felt she could've prevented it. I gave my own sigh.
"It's alright, Relena," I said flatly. But it wasn't alright. I realized that immediately after I said those words. I wanted to live, oh Kami, I wanted to live. I wanted to fulfill my purpose for coming here, in this dimension. I wanted to find my soul mate. There was a terrible emptiness in my heart that I longed to fill. It had always been with me, but now I couldn't ignore it. Now it was obvious.
"No it's not, Ami," Relena said firmly. "It's not. I could've gotten you out of here, but I jeopardized your life with my foolish cheekiness," she looked off almost painfully. "I sealed your faith."
I listened to Relena as she spoke. Yes, I found myself thinking, this is your fault.
"Why'd you do it, Relena?" I heard myself ask her. "Why'd you try him like that?" she sighed shakily, but never faced me.
"I guess I though I could make him see how senseless this was and maybe he'd let us go. When I saw that wasn't happening, I tried to plead for you."
"You could've gone about it in another way," I told her softly. She nodded.
"Yes, I could've. But I misread him," Relena heaved another great sigh. "I'm so sorry, Ami," she finally said, her voice shaking. "So, so sorry."
"I'm sorry too." I don't think she heard me.
~*~
The next day went by with such an exaggerated slowness, an entire week seemed to pass by instead. For the whole time, Relena and I barely exchanged any words. She was fixated on something outside the window and I was deep within my own private thoughts. When lunchtime came around, neither of us ate a single thing.
My thoughts weren't solely focused on my failed soul mate search. Instead, I reminisced on my old life. With the other scouts.
When I first discovered I was a Sailor Scout, I was so scared. First of all, there were the youma running around the place. Those things were so damned scary at the time; I highly doubted I would be able to defeat them. The fact that Serena was a total, please forgive me, flake didn't help boost my self-confidence.
But I did what I had to do. I worked with Luna, and later Rei, to try getting Serena to take on her responsibilities. After a while, we finally seemed to get through to her somewhat. After all, there were still occasions we had to ever-so-gently remind her of her duties as Sailor Moon.
Even after Mina and Lita joined us and we were getting used to working together as a team, I was still not completely convinced we could defeat the Queen Beryl and the Negaverse. Even after we defeated one powerful youma after another, I was still concerned.
That all changed when we defeated Beryl together, truly as a team. When we all gathered around the Serena, as the Moon Princess, and lent all of our energy to her, and watched Beryl's demise, our dream for more than a millennium, that made me finally believe we were destined to defeat 'the bad guys' and protect the world from all evil. We, the Sailor Soldiers, were the hope of universe. And I felt quite comfortable with it.
We grew closer with each foe we defeated. We became sisters. No, closer than that. We became one.
So God knows that I'll miss them more than anything else in this world.
Serena, with her annoying, crybaby antics. Anyone who knows Serena and says they haven't had the urge to throttle her at least once, would be lying. And I don't lie. Yes, there have been occasions when I wanted to wring her neck, especially when it was just the two of us. The other scouts have no doubt come very close, especially Rei, but then Serena does a total 180, completely surprising us, and displays an overwhelming sense of maturity. On those occasions I still want to throttle her for making us worry so much. But Serena is a very special person. She has a way of inspiring people to do their best. She came make you laugh as much as she came make you angry. And she can surprise you with the overwhelming amount of food she can eat. I swear, Serena never can get enough food, and yet she still stays stick slim. She is such a slacker when it comes to anything relating to work, especially school work. I can't figure out how she got into high school. Yes, I still remember our study sessions. But she sure does know how to pull through for you when times get rough. The amount of times she saved our fat from the fire, I can't count.
Then, there's Rei, her so-called best friend. Okay, that wasn't fair, because Rei cares about Serena more than she cares to admit. Way more. Rei also disses Serena more than anyone else. They are always at it, a day doesn't pass when those two don't find something to argue over. But sometimes, Rei would honestly provoke Serena, and Serena does know how to piss off Rei. But you'll never see a friendship like theirs. Rei is something else, indeed. Her lethal fashion sense and outspoken attitude define her. And as much as she acts like she couldn't care less about most things, and she very good at that, if you really know her, you know she does. More than anyone else, in fact. She's tough, and quite capable of being harsh, but it's usually for the betterment of the person (Serena). And her voice. Oh, you will cry if you hear her sing the Ave Maria. Mariah Carey has nothing over Rei.
Mina is the carefree one of the group. She is so hyper and so flighty, it's really hard to predict what she'll do. She's the true lead of the inner scouts, as she got her pen before the rest of us, if my memory serves me correctly. She was reluctant, but she joined us eventually. Mina definitely knows how to have a good time, and to make the best of worst times. If you see Mina depressed, you know things are bad. Rei and Mina are alike in some ways, as they're both clotheshorses and they take pride maintaining their beautiful appearances. She is also a serious fighter. Mina doesn't know the meaning of the word 'quit'.
Lita, the tomboy, the 'Sporty Spice' of the inner scouts. She is so active and hard-hitting, it is very easy to take her at face value. You look at her and see that things hardly phase her. She can give any guy competition when it comes being tough. But, like I said, it is very easy to take her at face value. She lives on her own quite competently, and this could be taken for maturity. But she's a very lonely person. She doesn't mingle that much with people, though I'm not going to speculate as to why that is. So people mistake that for coolness. But once you get to know her, she is the sweetest person you'll ever meet. And so full of surprises. For instance, looking at her, you'll never know that she's a whiz in the kitchen. Yet Lita can whip up a gourmet using a box of macaroni, tofu and a packet of mixed veggies. I know, 'cause I've seen her do it. And once she likes you, she will defend you until the very end.
I don't know much about the outer scouts, as they can be standoffish but they have left their impression. Michiru, the elegant, stylish, utterly feminine soldier. She is so beautiful, it's almost dreamlike. And her violin music can make Beethoven weep. But she is as tough as any other scout, maybe even tougher than us. It would be a mistake to say Haruka is exactly like Lita because of their rough and tough, boyish attitude. Haruka adopts it in her appearance as well. I will never forget the time Mina and Serena went chasing after her the first time they met her because they thought she was a boy, that's how she is. I still laugh when I think about it. But Haruka is so protective of us, it is not hard to see that she cares about us. Hotaru, poor Sailor Saturn, she's been through so much in her short life. Possessed by Mistress Nine isn't a very pleasant experience. Especially since the Michiru and Haruka were all for killing her because of that. Now, they shower her with so much love, as they took her into their homes. Setsuna, so mysterious and silent, no-one knows much about her. Personally, I think she is the strongest out of all of us. But if she is, she hardly acknowledges it or shows it. However, she does show her love for us by acting like a kind of surrogate mother. I believe she will stop at nothing to protect us.
My heart heaved as I thought about each of them in turn. I saw them in my mind's eye, all smiling and laughing. I missed them so terribly. I wished I could go back home. I choked back a sob as a wave of homesickness flooded over me.
I looked over at Relena who was still looking out the window. She'd been at that for more than an hour, I'm sure. As if a sensor picked me up, Relena turned to face me with a sad smile. She started to talk.
"Right after the Eve Wars, Miliardo came back to me. I mean, you can imagine my shock, because from all reports, he was dead. Anyway, he came to me in London, where I was staying at that time and we spent a week together. The best week of my life for a very long time. And we just talked. We talked about our years apart, after the fall of the Peacecraft empire. He told me about his years with OZ, I told him about my years with my foster family. We didn't talk about the Eve Wars; it was too fresh in our memories, too painful. However, we did talk about the few years we were together, back when we were children in the Sanq. I learnt plenty from him, because I didn't remember anything. The only memories I had were cloudy, mixed up images that get even more cloudy and mixed up as the years go by," at this time, looked at me, as if to see if I was listening to her. I nodded to show I was and she continued.
"Anyway, the last night, we were sitting together and I was telling him my fears about my duties as Vice Foreign Minister. What if I didn't do my job correctly? What if I didn't satisfy the people? Then he started to tell me about mother. Our mother. He told me what a good person she was, how she was so humane and compassionate and how she never let public opinion or favor turn her away from her goals and duties. I was confused, I mean, what did this have to do with me and my concerns? Then he turned to me and said: 'You remind me so much of her.' He touched my face and told me I looked so much like her, same bone structure, same eyes, same hair, same facial expressions. Then he told me that I was just like her in terms of attitude and beliefs. I proved that to him when I came to him on Peacemillion. He told me that I have her conviction and passion and her heart." She stopped and took a shaky breath.
"That meant so much to me," Relena stared again, her voice strained and high. "Because I always heard how good a person my mother was, how she always looked out for the best interests of everyone around her, how she always made sacrifices so her people would be happy." Relena scoffed. "She was like a modern day Princess Diana. And I always wanted to be like her, to measure up to her. That was the first time anyone ever told me I did," she turned to me, her eyes glistening. "You understand, right?"
I nodded because I didn't trust myself speaking at the moment. It choked me up, I must admit. Her story, along with my frustrations and memories, made me want to start crying and never stop.
I did understand. Not completely, because my mother was still alive, but I always found myself trying to measure up to her. Trying to become a big successful doctor. To become respected and intelligent just like her. She and I aren't that close, but I still felt the desire to be compared to her. I nodded again. Oh, I did.
"Yeah, I do," I whispered.
At moment, the door opened. President Munez stepped in, with two guards behind of him. Two guards with assault rifles. I could feel my blood grow cold in my veins. I looked out the window and saw it was dark outside. I didn't realize it was that late.
"Well, Ms Relena, looks like you were right in your prediction," President Munez said calmly. Relena took a deep, shuddering breath. "So unfortunate."
He walked in, his soldier behind him. My eyes never left them. President Munez took up his usual position between us, while the guards walked around. I saw one guard take up his position behind Relena. I could feel the other guard behind me.
"I'm sorry it had to be this way, Ms Relena," he nodded to her. "Ms Ami," he nodded to me. "But I am a man of my word. I told them what would happen at the end of forty eight hours, but they didn't heed me." He sighed. His expression was almost remorseful. "So…" at the utterance of this word, I saw the guard behind Relena cock his gun. I heard the click behind me too. He aimed it to the back of her head, and I could feel the other gun behind of mine. My heart was pounding in my chest.
"So," President Munez repeated and looked at his watch. "We have about…two more minutes to go," he said. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. I had been faced with death many times before, but this time was somewhat different. I saw Relena close her eyes and her lips moved rapidly, though soundlessly. I soon recognized the words to be that of the Lord's Prayer. I closed my eyes and muttered my own Shinto prayer. Nothing could help us now…nothing…
There was a sudden explosion from the doorway. My eyes snapped open and all I saw was smoke. I started to cough, as it was choking me. All around me, I heard chaos. I heard shouting and swearing in the rough language from before and then the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. I heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being unsheathed quickly, before rapid, successive slashes. And then I heard some familiar words. English words!
"The two of you take care of them!" I heard someone say. Almost immediately, I felt the bounds from my hands being released. My feet were next, then I felt myself being picked up in a pair of strong arms.
It seemed like a second later I was outside, in the cool night breeze. My mysterious rescuer, who was running at an impossible speed, was still carrying me. His breathing was steady, though rapid. I wrapped my arms around his neck so I wouldn't fall.
After a while, he began to slow down, until we were finally walking. Yet, he didn't put me down. Not that I minded; my legs felt like jelly. We came unto a little alcove and he started walking through it. The air was even cooler between here. Damp leaves brushed against my face and my skin. Soon, we came up a clearing.
My eyes nearly dropped out of my head.
"Oh my God…" I whispered. Before me were five of the biggest humanoid…things I've ever seen. Drawing from the glimpses I got of Rei and Serena's Manga comics, I took a wild guess and figured that these were Mecha. And from the limited knowledge I gathered while here, I figured that Mecha=mobile suits, mobile suits=
Gundams!
They were magnificent objects, taller than most buildings, their shiny metal reflecting in the moonlight. They were decorated in their own unique ways, though I didn't take all of that in at the time.
Okay, let's break it down. First of all, Gundams aren't supposed to exist, much less FIVE Gundams! Secondly, if these were Gundams, this meant that the Gundam pilots are here. Okay, they were the ones who saved us, cool. So, the bare fact that this guy knows where they're kept, means he's a pilot too. Huh. So, therefore, I'm supposed to know him!
I craned my neck to see who it was holding me so comfortingly in his muscular arms.
"Oh…" I moaned softly. Yeah, you guessed it.
It was Heero.
You saw that coming, huh? Yeah…You know what to do, read and review…