Ceremonies
Chapter One: The Ceremony
by: Ann Lowe
lagz_xf_forever@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Dun own Gundam Wing. Sorry.
Notes: I dunno how good this story is.it's the product of a brain storm. Yeah.
"Dammit!" Lady Une shrieked from behind her desk. "Where the hell are they?!?"
"We're coming!" A voice shot from down the hall. Duo Maxwell. The 'Braided Baka.'
"Hurry up, dammit! You have to make your speeches in fifteen minutes! Get ready!"
"Fifteen!?! From the way you were yelling, I thought more on the lines of half a second!" Duo laughed as he came tumbling into the backstage area of the Brussels Ceremonial Auditorium. He was followed by twelve others shortly.
"OK, role call." Une shouted at the group.
"Geez! I feel like I'm back in Kindergarten!" Duo griped to the man sitting next to him. Heero Yuy just rolled his eyes at the pathetic display.
"Maxwell!"
"Here."
"Yuy!"
"Hn."
"Barton!"
"Yes." Trowa Barton looked up at the woman with his one showing green eye.
"Winner!"
"Present!" Quatre Raberba Winner smiled cheerfully.
"Chang!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm here." Chang Wu Fei just grumbled his response.
"Peacecraft. Merquise. Oh, who gives a shit!?!"
"Here." Came the annoyed reply from Milliardo Peacecraft/Zechs Merquise.
"Darlian!"
"Here!" Relena Darlian/Peacecraft smiled happily.
"Schbeiker!"
"I'm here." Hilde Schbeiker had joined the Preventer Unit just a little while ago and was quickly becoming part of the group.
"Bloom!"
"Here!" Trowa's elder sister smiled thoughtfully at the woman shouting at them hysterically.
"Catalonia!"
"I'm here already!" Dorothy Catalonia shot back unpleasantly before being elbowed by her fiancée, Quatre Winner.
"Po!"
"I'm here, too." Sally Po mocked Dorothy, getting a stern glare from both the woman and her fiancée.
"Noin!"
"Yep!" Lucrezia Noin looked up at her superior.
"Khushrenada. Barton. What's with the damn double names thing?!?"
"I'm here, mum." Mariemaia Khushrenada/Barton looked in an annoyed manner at her foster mother.
"Good! You're all here!" Une seemed to let out a large breath, but quickly covered it. "Now, as this is the tenth anniversary of the Eve War, I need you all to be completely presentable. Maxwell, I know that's a lot to ask of you, but tough luck, kiddo." Most of the group laughed. "Now. Does everyone have their speeches?"
"Yes, Lady Une. I made sure of that before we left." Relena smiled pleasantly.
"Are all of the speeches appropriate?"
"I don't know about everyone's. But I made sure that Heero's speech was presentable. Slightly perverse. but presentable nonetheless." Relena sweatdropped lightly. The man in question glared at her darkly, but didn't leave much of an impression. She was far too used to it and just pushed him slightly on the forehead with her index finger, smiling.
"Duo? Is yours readable?"
"Why are you picking on me so much? Duo complained.
"Because you are the least responsible person in this group. Even Mariemaia is more responsible than you are!"
"Yes, mine's presentable. Even ask Hilde! She proof-read it!"
"Hilde?"
"Yes, it's fine. But, knowing Duo, he'll probably get sidetracked a couple of times. I really with you'd put him last. That way, if we ran out of time we'd be able to just cut his."
"Hey!" Duo shrieked indignantly.
"I have you in the appropriate order." Une glared at the raven-haired girl.
"What's our order again?" Duo asked stupidly.
"Myself, Heero, Relena, Duo, Hilde, Trowa, Cathrine, Quatre, Dorothy, Wu Fei, Sally, Zechs, Noin, and Mariemaia." Une read off her list.
"I still don't see why half those people are even on that list." Mariemaia just stared at her foster mother.
"I thought that the ones closest to the Gundam Pilots and the Gundam Pilots themselves should all give speeches on what it's been like since the war. Relena's assistant Maya will introduce everyone. She'll give their title and position now and in the war." Une turned to look at Relena. "Am I correct?"
"Yes, as far as I know. She's also going to give a little background on each person. So the crowd understands who they are and what they've done." Heero just glared at her.
"Why do I get the feeling you just did this to piss off Heero?" Duo asked incredulously.
"Wherever did you get that idea?" Relena faked looking injured. "Heero's not upset, are you, dear?" Relena flashed a melting smile at her boyfriend. He, of course, melted and looked away. This caused everyone to laugh at a level near hysterics.
"One minute!" A stage hand yelled to the group.
"OK, everyone ready?" Une looked at the group as she prepared to escort Maya onto the stage. Maya had just showed up.
There was a chorus of yeses from the group and Une smiled in relief. She had everyone get out their speeches, then left with Maya.
One the stage, Maya started the Ceremony.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! I welcome you all here tonight to hear the speeches of those most thoroughly involved in this War whose conclusion we are celebrating. Now, ten years after the war, we'll hear them reflect on the war and how it changed the world. Our speakers tonight are: Miss Une, Mr. Heero Yuy, Miss Relena Darlian, Mr. Duo Maxwell, Miss Hilde Schbeiker, Mr. Trowa Barton, Miss Cathrine Bloom, Mr. Quatre Winner, Miss Dorothy Catalonia, Mr. Chang Wu Fei, Miss Sally Po, Mr. Zechs Merquise, Miss Lucrezia Noin, and Miss Mariemaia Khushrenada. Now, with the onslaught of speakers ready to speak to you all, let me introduce the first speaker. Make a note that one or two speakers may come out at once.
"Our first speaker is Miss Une. As her title is Lady Une, the audience knows that this woman holds a very high position of authority. But, above our admiration of her authority, is our respect of this amazing woman. Lady Une started out as a highly ranked official for the Alliance Military, but was on the side of OZ - the Organization of the Zodiac - when they accomplished their coup de tat. She remained with OZ until a gun shot wound stopped her participation in battle. She returned, however, to help lead the world to peace during the Eve Battle. In her broadcasting of the legendary fight between the Epyon Gundam and the Wing Gundam ZERO, she showed the world exactly what was needed for total pacifism. She then started the Government funded organization 'Preventer'. She leads the Preventer Organization to this day and we must admit that she is very good at her job. Now, she will give her speech." The audience applauded the wonderful announcer and watched as Lady Une made her way to the podium.
"I would like to thank all of you for coming here today to hear us speak." She looked out at the crowd, in awe at the size. Streets were packed with people surrounding the outdoor stage. She knew by assumption that there had to be ten thousand people gathered in that one place to hear the speeches of those so readily involved during and after the war. She looked out upon the hundreds of cameras recording the speeches and broadcasting them live on their TV networks. Lady Une smiled in spite of herself.
"When I first joined the OZ Organization I was filled with numerous wishes and desires. At that time, in all honesty, the only thing I wanted was power. But, after following the fights and proclamations, I realized that what I really wanted was an end to the endless fighting and disagreements. That became my goal and aspiration throughout the war and afterwards. It was also my inspiration. A world without any fighting whatsoever is impossible to create. At least with humans leading it. But, we are as close to that point as we will ever be and I'm happy for that development. Due to the efforts of my wonderful crew, we have been able to prevent anything too severe from arising. True peace is here, and I will do everything in my power to protect it. I have people that I love and want to protect just as much as any other person on this planet. Being a soldier out of war doesn't mean that one's purpose is gone, it just means that your purpose has changed. For the soldiers who fought so desperately for peace, their jobs are nowhere near being done. We now protect the peace.
"As was already stated, I have a family and people that I love. After the 196 coup de tat, I adopted Mariemaia and she is now my daughter. I have a wonderful and productive life and there isn't anything that I'd change about anything that has happened to me. My life now exists for the sole purpose of keeping the peace and protecting this wonderful girl of which I do truly love as my daughter. Family, I think, is something that is required in order to learn to accept the way things have changed since the war. The love of others and the love of myself is what has guided me through everything." Lady Une laughed lightly as the audience applauded the end of her speech. As an afterthought, she added, "And the moral of the story is to always find the good in things and love one another." The audience laughed with her this time. Lady Une bowed and walked back offstage.
"Thank you, Lady, for that wonderful speech." Maya smiled in respect as Une left the stage. "Now. Our next pair of speakers are Mr. Heero Yuy and Miss Relena Darlian." The audience clapped as the two walked onstage.
"Now. I'm sure you've all seen them. Miss Darlian is the current Vice Foreign Minister to the colonies and Mr. Yuy is the head of her security." Half of the audience laughed, the other just smiled respectively. "I'm sure you've all seen at least one of Miss Relena's speeches. If you haven't, you don't know what you're missing!" Relena blushed as the audience laughed lightly. "If you haven't seen Mr. Yuy, or perhaps just didn't recognize him, Miss Relena asked me to add that he's the one who's always following her around." Heero nearly facefaulted, Relena smiled innocently, and everyone else laughed.
"Now, Mr. Yuy is known for a few other things as well." Maya continued after the laughing had - for the most part - stopped. "As he doesn't seem to want to tell us much about his past, all we know is the few details he's provided throughout the war. Mr. Yuy is best known for being the pilot of Gundam Unit 01 - Wing Gundam, and Gundam Unit 00 - Wing Gundam ZERO. He is Gundam Pilot 01 and was one of the pilots in the final fight of the Eve War." Maya allowed the audience to applaud, and grinned when she noticed Heero had turned a slightly reddish color and Relena was smiling at him.
"Mr. Yuy was also the Pilot to break the defenses of Mariemaia's base during the coup de tat of 196." The audience applauded once more and Relena held on to the hand on the one she loved most. Though he looked more like a tomato than a human being.
"Now, Miss Relena is someone we all know as the Vice Foreign Minister. She has been holding her position for close to the last ten years, and doing it well, mind you." The audience cheered and all of the speakers had the sudden feeling that a lot of them had just come to personally see Relena talk. "Miss Relena was one of the first people to support the Gundams during the war, though she never got the chance to get to know Mr. Barton or Mr. Chang very well during that time. She is proud that she helped out, and was a great help, too. Mr. Maxwell asked me to add that she was probably the one who prevented the war from ending differently. He asked me to say something else as well, but it's not quite appropriate." The audience laughed and everyone heard Duo's cry from the back of "Oi!"
"Miss Relena would also like to embarrass Mr. Yuy further by assuring that they are going out. If anyone was curious." Heero turned - if possible - an even darker shade of red and Relena smiled triumphantly while the audience laughed. hard. "Now, with no further ado, if he is able to speak coherently, Mr. Heero Yuy is going to give his speech." They all laughed harder and Heero went up to the podium. He had clamed himself down pretty well and had returned to a healthy facial shade.
"I was asked to give a speech today about how I felt during the war and how I feel now." Heero began. Most of the audience was slightly taken aback at the deep tone of voice he had and how it was more of a monotone than a pitch. "During the war, my objective was originally just to destroy OZ, as my superiors had commanded me to. During the course of the battles, however, my mind formed its own - slightly subconscious - objective. And, much to the dismay of myself and most likely a few of you, I have yet to figure out what that was. During the war, even I must admit that my actions and ways of doing things changed. I went from knowing the absolute purpose of my fighting to not knowing what the hell I was doing." Most of the audience laughed at his use of 'an inappropriate word', while the other half fumed.
"If I were to take into consideration everything that happened - all the changes and additions to my life - I would most likely find what I am looking for, my objective. However, that is not my desire. During the twenty-five years that I have been alive, I have realized three major things. The first being that peace is much better than the endless struggle that is war. The second being less obvious. I once told a friend of mine - he knows who he is - that it is always best to act off of one's emotions. That's not always the easiest thing to do. Sometimes, what your heart tells you to do is in exact contradiction to what your head is screaming at you. I've had years of training to make my abilities as a soldier as high as they are. In my training, I was advised to listen to my head, and not my heart. The man who told me this said that it was easier that way. He said that my heart would only bring me sorrow and pain. To be honest, that's how I've lived most of my life. Ignoring what my heart tells me, and doing what my head insists is right. Until the war. During the course of that one year war, I realized that my what my heart was telling me to do was what I really wanted to do and that what my heart said was what would have the best results. Now I realize that even that thought is wrong. I am not God, so I cannot declare truly which is correct. My heart or my head? But, in my experience, doing what your heart tells you to do leaves you feeling the best later. For those who are wondering, that is exactly how I mastered the ZERO system. My head only did what the System told it to. My heart listened to its feelings. I know that most of this audience - and all of the audiences in their homes - have no idea what I'm talking about. So, my conclusion to this issue, is when it comes to fighting and violence, your head usually has the results to keep you from becoming mortally wounded, so it is the best choice. But, when dealing with living creatures, your heart knows the most compassionate way to deal with things. As the war is over, you'd think that my heart has won me over. As I mentioned at the start of this subject, it's not that simple. I can't just pretend that my training never happened. I know it did and I can't change what happened to me. I can only say that each person needs their own conclusion to this subject. Mine is adequate to me and me alone. I don't think that I have a duplicate anywhere, so my answers apply to me alone. I only hope that they help somewhat in your own search. So that no one has to go through what I did." Heero paused for a moment and let out a large breath. Unbeknownst to him, his love was on the verge of crying, as was almost every member of the audience and most backstage.
"The third thing that I've learned is that no matter what you think, nothin can be accomplished if you do it alone. Sure, there are things like reading and writing and drawing that are solitary activities, but after a while, you'll wind up sharing them with someone, who shares them with another, and another, until almost everyone knows what you do and either agrees or disagrees. Never shroud yourself in solitude, it'll only end up coming back at you. I grew up with people who were - for the most part - much older than me. I guess the person closest to my age was the man who raised me when I was very small and he was twenty-eight years my senior. In all respect to these people, I must admit that I didn't have any very good mentors in my youth. The only thing that mattered to them was the fact that I could be manipulated, as I was still a child. I guess, in all aspects, I didn't really have a childhood. I was forced to 'grow up', as one would call it, far too quickly. But, in spite of everything, even I now realize that no one deserves to be alone all the time. Everyone needs someone. Just to know that they're cared about. To give them a reason to go on. Even me, the most suicidal maniac among the five - six, rather - of us needs someone to make sure he doesn't screw something up horribly. I know that some of you out there are snubbing your noses to me and saying 'Yeah, right! I don't need nobody!'. Believe me, no matter how independent you are, or how much people laugh at you, you need somebody; and, if you wait long enough, somebody will come." He let a small smile slip in Relena's direction. "And if someone as seriously screwed up as I am actually found someone that they think cares about them, I'm sure you can, too. No matter who you are." He smiled slightly to the audience. It was a small sad, yet knowing smile. As though he were looking at every person directly and understanding. He bowed his head in the Japanese manner, and left the podium to go and stand next to Relena once more. The area was still and quiet for some time before one single person started clapping and everyone joined in whole-heartedly. Heero just smiled slightly and nudged Relena in the direction of the podium as she didn't seem to be moving.
Maya, however, came to the rescue. "Very. nice. speech, Mr. Yuy." She said almost breathlessly. "And now, Miss Relena Darlian would like to giver her speech." The audience applauded lightly and Relena went up to the podium.
"I'd again like to thank everyone for coming and caring enough to listen to a dozen or so long and boring speeches." The audience laughed. "Well, I'm not so sure I can say that truthfully. I know that plenty of the speeches you'll hear tonight are going to be very. entertaining. To say the least." She smiled as she thought of Duo and Hilde. "Now, Heero and I originally wrote our speeches together, but he didn't exactly follow his, so I guess I'm just going to have to improvise. Not that his other speech was anywhere near as good as that." She smiled lightly as her lover blushed gently and watched her every move. She sighed and smiled lightly. Some things would never change. "If I'm not badly mistaken, I think that my dear Head Of Security just bested the speech I myself wrote. I'd like to console myself with the thought that he's done this before, but he seems to be shaking his head." The audience laughed at Relena's fake conceit.
"Well, I guess I'd like to start by stating the well-known fact that the peace we know live in could not have been possible if not for a few select people who did more than their fair share in the war. I don't think I'm allowed to go on about this, as your previous speaker is glaring at me. Yes, dear, I know what you want to say." Relena chuckled lightly and the audience watched in mild confusion, but definite enthusiasm.
"Now, I didn't really do all that much during the war in means of fighting, but everyone seems to insist that I did help a bit in the coming of peace." Heero flicked a paper clip at her. "Hey, you! Watch it!" Relena laughed at him. "Or maybe I'll just have to embarrass you in front of thousands of people." She stuck out her tongue and he just grinned back with a look of mock innocence, "Well, peace really is a wonderful thing, but that's not what I'm about to talk about." She smiled. "I can practically hear the thousands of soft sighs of relief. I'm pretty sure you were all worried that I was going to give one of my peace speeches again. Well, lucky for you, I'm not." She put up her nose in a look of mock snobbery. "I'm going to talk about what I've noticed about the Gundam Pilots and how they've changed since and during the war." She smiled at Heero's only partially covered look of pure terror. "Don't worry, I'm focusing this on all of you." She looked up in thought. "Well, a little more focused on Milliardo, Heero, Quatre, and Duo than Trowa and Wu Fei as I didn't know them very well during the war. I'm sorry to the two of them. I'll also focus a few things on Miss Noin and her relationship with us all." Relena smiled.
"Well, for starters, I didn't even know that Milliardo was my brother until during his and Heero's fight in Antarctica (forgive me if that's the wrong location! I know it's either Antarctica or Siberia. ^^;;). So, it's OK to say that I didn't meet him first during the war. That was actually Heero. Then Duo, but that's a rather odd story. So, of course I'm going to tell you!" She smiled sweetly. "Well, no offense to you, Heero, but he wasn't exactly a pleasant person to be around when I first met him. He knocked out a med squad and stole the ambulance." She shrugged nonchalantly as the crowd laughed. "Then he showed up at my High School and told me he was going to kill me. How pleasant! Then I met Duo, he was resurfacing Wing and Deathscythe and Heero had been intending to destroy his Gundam. So, for some reason I still don't comprehend, Duo shot Heero. I think it was because Heero was going to shoot me. But, he did and Heero wound up at the hospital. Not solely because of that, but that's just plain a weird story. Duo was his charming sarcastic self even then, though I do think that he had a little more on his mind. Well, I met Milliardo after them, then Quatre. To sum up their personalities, Heero was moody and extraordinarily annoying to be around, Duo was chipper and made a joke out of everything, Milliardo seemed to have a lot of steam to blow off, and Quatre was as pleasant as is humanly possible. Well, as the war progressed, Heero got slightly less moody and Duo wavered between being more optimistic and less so. Milliardo gained even more steam, and Quatre got a little bit less pleasant, as I think he was confused. Well, their personalities didn't change much until the final battles with the White Fang and Libra. I think that they became more aware of each other and of what they were trying to accomplish. During the final battle, I must admit that I couldn't see the point of it. It took me a while; call me dense if you like. Well, it wasn't meaningless, as we all can see. I think that I realized how important that battle really was to everyone, the soldiers mostly. And Miss Noin. She helped them all so many times in so many ways that I could never. I also think that her friendship with my brother stopped him from doing a few things he might have regretted afterwards." Relena smiled. "I think that Miss Noin's belief in them helped them all through the battle. She was very supportive and helped out in any way she could. I know that it may seem that I did nothing. But, I know I did and Heero if you look at me like that one more time I'm going to deck you!" The audience turned its attention to Heero to notice that he was glaring at her. "I know I helped you all, too! You don't have to remind me!" The audience laughed at how aggravated she was getting.
"Well, now in this time of peace, I've noticed things slowly change. Some are for the better, and some for the worse, but that's how life goes. You have to take the good with the bad. I finally got to know all of the Gundam Pilots and admire each of them for their separate skills. Heero has lightened up a bit. It's still not quite normal for people to behave as he does a lot of the time, but he's getting better. I think that has a lot to do with Duo constantly hanging around our home." She raised an eyebrow. "At least the rumors were wrong." She giggled as Heero's eyes widened and he glared at her as hard as he could. "I hope to not get into that." She winked at the audience. "Well, Duo's gotten even more optimistic and jokes constantly. Though, some of his gags aren't funny. Like the whole video camera thing in the kitchen. See now, that was just weird." The audience laughed. hard. "Trowa has gotten a little more social. He used to hardly speak at all, now he actually holds conversations with me! I'm dying to hear his speech tonight." She grinned maniacally. "Quatre, if possible, is now more polite and considerate than he was before, and Wu Fei has serious problems with women." She laughed, the audience raised eyebrows, Wu Fei yelled indignantly from backstage, and Heero could hardly keep from laughing. "Well, the last two people to consider into this are my brother and Noin. Milliardo no longer looks like he wants to deck somebody all the time, though I know he'd love to deck poor Heero here." She mocked feeling sorry for the boy with super-human abilities. "And Noin hasn't really changed much. Her and my brother are usually together, she stills helps out with anything she can, and she still dyes her hair blue. I think it's actually kind of classy." Relena smiled cheerily. "I know that speech was - for the most part - pointless. But, I summed up how everybody acts and didn't preach about peace, so I think it was pretty good. Considering I improvised. Now you can judge for yourselves how much you think they've changed. You can also judge the love interests." Relena grinned in a way that made everyone wonder if she had a secret. "Well, once again, thank you for coming." The audience cheered enthusiastically.
"Well, now, weren't they wonderful? Can I have another round of applause for Miss Relena and Mr. Yuy?" The audience clapped once more. "Well, our next two speakers are Mr. Duo Maxwell and Miss Hilde Schbeiker." She pointed to the stairs Relena and Heero were descending and Duo and Hilde emerged.
"Now, Me. Maxwell is best known for being Gundam Pilot 02 and one of the most chipper people on the planet. He's also known for his yard long braid." The audience laughed, then pretty much stopped when they realized that Maya was serious. "Mr. Maxwell was raised on the L2 Colony cluster and won't tell us anything more, so we don't have much to tell you. Now, he and Miss Hilde have been married for the last six years and still get along wonderfully. They have two children, a daughter named Kaijuu, which roughly translated means 'Monster' in Japanese. Duo claims that Heero thought it up and only told him what it meant after Duo named his child that. Their other child is a son named Joshua. Josh is three and Kai will be six next September. Roughly nine months after their sixth wedding anniversary," The audience members ho understood this all laughed. Scarily, some didn't. "First to speak will be Mr. Maxwell." Duo poked her once. "Oh! I forgot to add that Hilde is only going by Schbeiker on stage in case of someone recognizing her name and not her face. Her legal last name is Maxwell, too."
"Thank you!" Duo took over the microphone. "Well, it's my turn now, so I hope I do a good job! I'm going to talk about what things I think helped the war turn out the war it did. First off, we all know that the war ended in peace and harmony, but I know a few ways it could have ended otherwise. First off, I think we all know that there had only been a sliver of a chance for the war to end the way it did. I may be bias, but I really believe that Heero and Relena had more to do with this than anyone else. 'Cept for maybe Zechs, but he was the bad guy, so we needed him either way." Duo smiled. "For those of you who don't know, Heero wasn't kidding when he said 'Suicidal Maniac' about himself. I, personally, think that Relena's probably the only reason he didn't go through with it so many times. I know that hundreds of thousands of other people played great roles as well, and none of this would have been possible without them, but I really am bias I guess. I think that people give too much credit to us Gundam Pilots. Seriously, why would we fight? We had to have reasons, right? And those reasons involve people. I think that was Lady Une's secret motif for inviting Cathrine, Hilde, Dorothy, and Mariemaia to give speeches. Well, Mariemaia may have just been a given, too. Without these people backing us up, I don't think that any of us - us being the Gundam Pilots - could have been able to survive the war. I have Hilde, Heero had Relena, Trowa had his sister Cathrine to protect, Quatre had all of his sisters, though they aren't here, and he also had Dorothy in ways that only he and she understand." Duo almost sweatdropped. "Wu Fei had Sally to count on and defend whether he wants to admit it or not. He should admit it, as they're married for Cripes sake! And Zechs and Noin kinda had each other, though they to this day aren't romantically involved, or not that anyone knows about. Which is odd. Maybe they really are just best friends, who knows? I ain't all-knowing or anything like that. We all had people that we counted on, and I don't think that enough credit goes to them. We Gundam Pilots are practically the only ones admired for winning the war, when really, we couldn't have done anything without motivation. I know how I felt when Hilde was threatened. I didn't like that at all. Everyone has someone, like Heero said. I think that those people should get more credit for this. So be sure to give them a nice round of applause, 'K?" He grinned. "That's pretty much all of my speech. Lady Une is probably sighing in relief back stage. I'm kinda the goof off. Well, everybody needs someone to lighten things up! Am I right?" The crowd cheered. "Thought so. Well, listen good and hard to Hilde here, she deserves it just as much as anyone else giving a speech." Duo left the podium and Hilde stepped up.
"Well, thanks to Duo's nice little speech, I think I've figured out why I was invited. But, I still don't know what role I played. First off, I was a member of OZ, and when we captured Duo, I met him. He kinda defeated me and changed my mind about what I was fighting for, so I decided to help him and the Gundam Pilots. But pretty much all I could do was give Duo a place to live. I tried the whole getting data off Libra thing, but Duo wound' up saving me from that, too. I guess, I must have made a difference somehow, as all living things have a role to play. I've lived a happy life so far, and I think it'll stay that way for quite a while now. It's just a feeling I get. I don't regret anything I've done and I don't expect to ever do so. All things have a purpose so don't try to stop the inevitable. Shit happens, live with it!" Hilde laughed. "I don't really have a very good speech planned, and that was most of it, but I really do enjoy being here and seeing all these people loving peace and how the world has changed. Remember what it was like during the war and think about how we are today. Everything is just so wonderful now. We live in peace and are able to love the ones we love with no one stopping us. We can live life to the fullest. That's for sure. I just hope that no one ever takes that for granted." Hilde smiled. "That's all my speech. I know it wasn't long, but I put a lot of heart into it, and I think it came across pretty well, right?" The audience cheered loudly and Hilde blushed and walked down from the podium.
"Those were both wonderful speeches, weren't they?" Maya asked the audience and got another applause for her answer. "Next up are Mr. Trowa Barton and Miss Cathrine Bloom. Give me a round of applause for our two next speakers!" The crowd did so and Trowa and Cathrine came out from back stage. "Mr. Barton is best known for being Gundam Pilot 03 and one of the most silent people I've ever met. He's great at acrobatics and works at a circus. Miss Cathrine, his elder sister, also works for that same circus and is a knife thrower. Trowa hasn't told us of his past either, so we're not at liberty to say anything. Miss Cathrine has lived on her own since her parents died. She's very talented and does many things that a lot of people only dream about. Welcome these two to the stage!"
Trowa and Cathrine walked onto stage and Trowa walked up to the podium.
"I'd like to talk about recognizing and liking who you are." Trowa smiled lightly. "I know I sound like a psychiatrist, but that's OK by me. You see, I have no memory of who I really am or what my real name is. I went by 'Nanashi' for most of my life. I was called Trowa after the real Trowa Barton was killed and I took his place. I didn't really like not knowing who I was, or not knowing anything about myself, but there wasn't really all that much I could do about it. After a while, I stopped caring. I like my life, and my name. As a result of war, I have no real name, and no memories, but it's OK.. I don't mind anymore. I know that this doesn't wound like it has all that much to say about war, but in its own way, it's similar. It's the reason I was ever in the war and how I got in. I think it's relevant and something that people should hear. I'm sorry if this was short, but I don't like talking in front of too many people. I like to contain myself to my thoughts." He bowed politely and stepped down, allowing Cathrine the stand. The audience applauded loudly,
"Well, like Hilde, I don't know what all I did for the war, but I did try to be there for Trowa. He's my brother and I'll do all I can to help him. Before I knew he was my brother - and I still don't know for certain - I still did all I could to help him. It doesn't matter if you like a person or not, you should show compassion for them and their ideals anyway. Maybe share your opinion with them and see what they think of it. Don't judge people by what they like to who they are. Think about what's on the inside. Loving someone doesn't mean you're related to them or want to marry them, it can just be compassion for another person. I'm not going to go and say that if we did this there wouldn't be any war, that's not true. People are bound do disagree sooner or later, and if those are brash, hot- headed people with a lot of money and supplies, it could turn into a war. Most wars do start from a single disagreement. That's just how things work, ya know?" Cathrine smiled. "That's about all I wanted to say. Sorry if it wasn't all that relevant." Everyone clapped.
"Well, short but sweet, ya know?" Maya laughed lightly and the crowd cheered. "Next are Mr. Quatre Raberba Winner and his fiancée Miss Dorothy Catalonia. Mr. Winner is Gundam Pilot 04 and one of the nicest damn people I know! He always has his heart in the right place and has more compassion than I could ever dream of having. Quatre has twenty-nine elder sisters, so that could be why." She winked at the audience. "Miss Dorothy is - what she likes so way - practically Quatre's opposite. I think that she's wonderfully nice, but she says that she and Quatre are polar opposites. Judge for yourself!" With that, the two walked on stage and took Trowa and Cathrine's places. Quatre stepped up to the podium.
"Thank you for coming and listening to us all speak, it is a truly wonderful thing. During the beginning of the war, I thought that fighting was stupid and pointless, and refused to do more than absolutely necessary. After fighting for quite a while a realized that fighting really is necessary. There must be some bad times so that we appreciate the good times. I love life and hope to live it to my fullest. To me, there is no more important thing than life. I though that the people who started wars felt that life was worthless. Granted, there are people who feel that way, but I don't. The people who start wars usually aren't all that different from you and me. They have hearts and souls, and compassion, and live life the same as everyone. They just become either confused or have some ulterior motif for why they're fighting. Like with Mr. Treize. He just wanted peace. He tried to bring it round through military involvement and succeeded. Yet, at one point and time, he was our enemy. He was really a good person, so whose to say that all the people who start wars aren't like that. Sure, there'll be those conceited people who just want power and the might to rule over others, there'll always be people like that. The world won't change over night, and I don't think that it'll even change all that much." Quatre smiled and blushed. "I usually have much better and longer speeches than this, but this is what my heart told me to write and read, so I did. I'm sorry if some people disagree with me, that's how it goes." He bowed politely. "Now, I'll let Miss Dorothy talk." He stepped aside politely and let Dorothy through.
"Well, now! He really is polite, isn't he?" The audience laughed. "We're getting married in three weeks and he still calls me 'Miss Dorothy'. No offense, love, but that's rather pathetic." Quatre blushed and the audience laughed. "Well, I used to think that I loved war and fighting and things like that. I used to follow the Gundam Pilots around just to see the good fights. I found myself strangely intrigued by them and thought that that was why. But, over time I realized that it wasn't the war that I loved. It was the passion used in that war. My father was killed in war, and I thought that that would be a heroic way to die. I was wrong. Wishing to die heroically basically says that you won't. Heroics aren't what are really important in life. It's why you do the things you do. I found that I loved war because I knew that it would one day lead to peace. And it did, thank God. Now, I love peace and want nothing other. I know that there will be more wars and people will always continue to fight as it is in our nature, our very blood to fight. But, when that happens, a whole new set of heroes will appear out of nowhere when you least expect it and save everyone, like the Gundam Pilots did. They really did save us all, and I'm glad. I hope that the next war happens after I die, as well. I know that is rather conceited of me, but I think that one is enough in every person's lifetime. Even less! Well, that's my whole speech. I hope you enjoyed it." Dorothy bowed and she and Quatre left the stage before the audience had a chance to applaud tem. They had been cut off earlier as well when Dorothy started directly after Quatre finished and they though that it would be rude to clap while she was speaking.
"Right! Next are Mr. Chang Wu Fei and Miss Sally Po. I'm also supposed to mention that since they're married. her legal name is Mrs. Sally Chang. Or Chang Sally, however they prefer." The two stepped onstage. "Both of these speakers have asked me to only announce that Mr. Chang is Gundam Pilot 05 and Miss Sally was a doctor for the Alliance and later spent her time helping the Gundam Pilots. Now Mr. Chang will speak.
"I would like to talk about a few things that I've realized. My speech isn't long, and if you for some odd reason feel the needs to applaud in the middle, please refrain. And if you really think that my speech sucked, don't applaud. False gratitude is worse than just sitting and not saying a thing." The audience remained silent. "At the start of the war, I was fighting just to avenge the death of my wife, Chang Meilan. But, as I continued fighting, I realized that the war had meaning for me too. If you do something half-heartedly, you come out with a half-hearted result. Things like that are suicide in war. As the war progressed, I realized that I wasn't just fighting for Meilan anymore. I realized t that I was fighting for me, too. When I realized that, I was able to put her soul to rest. If you don't put your heart into something, you can't realistically expect wonderful results. Things like that only happen in books or fairy tales. Not in real life, not in war, nor in anything else. Also, I must admit that I used to think lowly of women. Hate me if you wish. I know now that women are just as good as men, some better. But we are all human, thus we are all equal. That's just so you don't think lowly of anyone who rags on me about that subject." He bowed and everyone applauded. Sally walked up to the podium next.
"Well, during the war, I didn't really do anything all that impressive. I just did what I could to help the pilots out. I retrieved the Gundams, rescued people, was rescued, and provided assistance. I don't ask for recognition unless you believe that I deserve it. I did what any other person in my position with my options would have done. Helping them was the least I could do. I did a little extra forcing Wu Fei to admit that women are just as good as men, but it seems I made him fall in love with me as well. Oh, well, I don't mind." She grinned evilly. "We were asked to talk about the war and I have. I know that the others each talked about a specific part, but I like to sum things up. I didn't do anything that great, so I won't say that I did. I did what I could and I don't regret it. I don't regret making Wu Fei fall in love with me either, as he's glaring at me for that little comment." The audience laughed. "Maybe it was vice verse, but I don't think so. Women are a lot more provocative than men could ever be. Also, Maya failed to mention that Wu Fei and I asked her to tell you about our children. Unless Wu Fei got to her and told her not to, she probably forgot. Oh, well, I'll do it. We have three children. Yes, actually more than hyper boy Duo. That's only because I had one of them first and then twins. We got married about three years ago - it'll be four in April - and had our first child about eight and a half months after the wedding. But, the child was premature so we weren't naughty." Sally almost cracked up as Wu Fei turned a bright red color. "The twins were born about three months ago. Our eldest in Cassandra, and the twins are Brittany and Michael. Despite Wu Fei's former lack of passion for women, I think that he spends more time with his daughters than with his son." She laughed out loud this time. "Well, that's all, so we'll let Zechs, Noin, and Mariemaia go." She grabbed Wu Fei and dragged him off stage before the applause could start.
"Hmm. why do I get the feeling that some of these people don't want applause?" Maya shrugged. "Well, next is Mr. Zechs Merquise - or Milliardo Peacecraft, whichever - and Miss Lucrezia Noin." The two walked on stage talked lightly about something. "They've asked mo not to even mention anything. They figured that enough would have been said earlier. I think it has." The crowd was silent. "Well, Mr. Merquise will give his speech now."
Zechs walked up to the podium. "I'd like to comment that, yes, it was me who started the White Fang and fought against the Gundams in the Eve War. Why am I not in jail? Got me." He smiled lightly and the audience laughed. "But, the war was necessary as it taught us how much we rally want this peace, and we earned it outright. My only intention was for peace to come, though it did not seem that way at times." Noin almost choked trying to hold back laughter and he glared at her, only provoking more laughter. "Ok, ignore her." He said is an irritated manner. "Someday another will come like me to test the peace or to break it, I have faith that we'll win once more and that the people will be just as glad at that ten year anniversary as we are now. In time, peace will start to get boring for some people, and people will respect it less. But I know that the people who are watching all of these speeches will appreciate the peace a little longer. What we're doing is reliving the war for you. So that you don't become hasty with this fragile peace. Don't suddenly decide that it's boring this way, remind yourself what you went through last time. That's really all I have to say. I'm not very good at making speeches, that's why Relena was in charge of the Sanc Kingdom and not me. I'd never do the job properly, Just remember all the pains we've gone through and remember what peace is worth to all of you." He stepped down and everyone applauded. Noin went up next.
"Well, I don't really know what to say up here, so I'm just going to say what's on my mind. For those of you who are sitting at home or in the audience and think that we're just trying to moralize you, you're wrong. We're just trying to make you understand that peace is worth a lot more than you think it is. Maybe if you didn't fight in the war, or didn't take sides, or didn't really care, you don't think of this as so big. But those of you who did do those things, don't you think that you appreciate it just a little bit more? Hearing someone else's opinion on things always makes them more clear to me. I don't know about anybody else. I love this peace that we have, and I know that deep down, everybody does. I just hope that everyone sees that place deep down. I don't want a repeat of the Eve War. Everything was just so confusing. No, a more understandable war would be better. But, I know that isn't possible, so I'll just hope that peace is always the goal of the wars." She nodded her head. "Thank you." The audience clapped loudly for her brief, but realistic, speech.
"Well, two very good speeches. We have only one speaker remaining. Her name is Mariemaia Khushrenada. She was one of the main people involved in the coup de tat of 196. She's sixteen years old and has just as much to say." Mariemaia walked out.
"Thank you for actually listening to me after what I've done. I know that peace is a fragile thing and that one should not mess with it once it has been attained, but every now and then, even I believe that the peace should be tested so that people don't take it for granted. I know that people won't take this peace for granted for a long time, so I have nothing so worry about." She smiled a cute smile. "That's all I really had to say, so let's just have everyone come out and we'll answer your question and talk to you." All fourteen speakers lined up on the stage, am isle was made for them to walk through, and they each went down to meet and talk with the people who had come. They mingled and went to pretty much everybody they could.
That evening ended successfully. But what awaits tomorrow? All you can do is wait.
*~~*~~*~~*
OK, so I went mildly overboard. Was anyone expecting terrorists to bomb? Well, let's just say that this isn't that type of story. Now, for the speeches.
In all reality, I went with what I thought the characters would actually say and have done. At the end, if yo noticed, things got a little shorter and more abrupt. Well, there were two reasons behind that. The first being that I've sat and written this whole thing out in one five-hour sitting. Good grief, ne? The other being that that's how I thought those characters would really act.
Heero: Why'd you make mine the longest speech?
Ann: Uh. 'Cuz that's how I thought it'd turn out? I mean, if provoked by Relena, you'll do pretty much anything. Plus, I though that you'd have the most to say and take the anniversary more seriously than the others.
Duo: OK, my speech was kind of mean.
Ann: So?
Don't worry, I don't go through everybody. It's 10:30 and I've been writing since roughly 5:30 (Actually, I think it might've been 4:30. Right after G Gundam.). Well, did anyone notice the fact that this is chapter one and that this coincides only a little with the prologue? Well, that has a reason! This chapter was only to sum up what they'd all been doing, what the year was, what was going on, and such. My main story is a romance! ^^ I have certain. bias' but that's OK! I think that this will wind up being a pretty good fic. So, I think it'll get done. I had to pressure myself to actually finish this chapter and not skip to the next one 'cuz I wanna write it so much. I think you'll get the main storyline there. This story might wind up being three or four chapters (or less), with just a prologue and epilogue. There might be a sequel, but probably not. I know that this chapter (and the prologue for that matter) could stand on their own and have a sort of bias, but that's ok. I thin that every chapter of this story will be able to stand on its own. I'm pretty sure that they'll all be about his length, too. (Oh, dear God.) I just hope I don't get extravagant and write like twenty (or even ten for that matter) chapters. that'd be insane! Well, stay tuned for the next installment.
This was written August 14, 2002 by Ann Lowe on her laptop. Number of pages in original font: (Rage Italic, size 10): 11 pages and 3 inches Number of pages in Arial size 10 font: 11 pages and 9.4 inches Number of pages in web format (Arial 12): 16 pages and 9 inches (that's almost 17 pages.!)
Not Including this or my title as I added that later. That's just the body plus the note at the end. It starts with une yelling dammit. Well, that's all my notes. Damn long stories. Not my record! That's 29 pages Harlow Solid Italic size 10 font! ^^ (That's about 12 more of these pages. H.S.I. is slightly bigger! Geez! They wouldn't let me put just h si in capitals. or h s I in all lower case. Stupid word.. I have to have the weir things. Like periods and weird paring.
Disclaimer: Dun own Gundam Wing. Sorry.
Notes: I dunno how good this story is.it's the product of a brain storm. Yeah.
"Dammit!" Lady Une shrieked from behind her desk. "Where the hell are they?!?"
"We're coming!" A voice shot from down the hall. Duo Maxwell. The 'Braided Baka.'
"Hurry up, dammit! You have to make your speeches in fifteen minutes! Get ready!"
"Fifteen!?! From the way you were yelling, I thought more on the lines of half a second!" Duo laughed as he came tumbling into the backstage area of the Brussels Ceremonial Auditorium. He was followed by twelve others shortly.
"OK, role call." Une shouted at the group.
"Geez! I feel like I'm back in Kindergarten!" Duo griped to the man sitting next to him. Heero Yuy just rolled his eyes at the pathetic display.
"Maxwell!"
"Here."
"Yuy!"
"Hn."
"Barton!"
"Yes." Trowa Barton looked up at the woman with his one showing green eye.
"Winner!"
"Present!" Quatre Raberba Winner smiled cheerfully.
"Chang!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm here." Chang Wu Fei just grumbled his response.
"Peacecraft. Merquise. Oh, who gives a shit!?!"
"Here." Came the annoyed reply from Milliardo Peacecraft/Zechs Merquise.
"Darlian!"
"Here!" Relena Darlian/Peacecraft smiled happily.
"Schbeiker!"
"I'm here." Hilde Schbeiker had joined the Preventer Unit just a little while ago and was quickly becoming part of the group.
"Bloom!"
"Here!" Trowa's elder sister smiled thoughtfully at the woman shouting at them hysterically.
"Catalonia!"
"I'm here already!" Dorothy Catalonia shot back unpleasantly before being elbowed by her fiancée, Quatre Winner.
"Po!"
"I'm here, too." Sally Po mocked Dorothy, getting a stern glare from both the woman and her fiancée.
"Noin!"
"Yep!" Lucrezia Noin looked up at her superior.
"Khushrenada. Barton. What's with the damn double names thing?!?"
"I'm here, mum." Mariemaia Khushrenada/Barton looked in an annoyed manner at her foster mother.
"Good! You're all here!" Une seemed to let out a large breath, but quickly covered it. "Now, as this is the tenth anniversary of the Eve War, I need you all to be completely presentable. Maxwell, I know that's a lot to ask of you, but tough luck, kiddo." Most of the group laughed. "Now. Does everyone have their speeches?"
"Yes, Lady Une. I made sure of that before we left." Relena smiled pleasantly.
"Are all of the speeches appropriate?"
"I don't know about everyone's. But I made sure that Heero's speech was presentable. Slightly perverse. but presentable nonetheless." Relena sweatdropped lightly. The man in question glared at her darkly, but didn't leave much of an impression. She was far too used to it and just pushed him slightly on the forehead with her index finger, smiling.
"Duo? Is yours readable?"
"Why are you picking on me so much? Duo complained.
"Because you are the least responsible person in this group. Even Mariemaia is more responsible than you are!"
"Yes, mine's presentable. Even ask Hilde! She proof-read it!"
"Hilde?"
"Yes, it's fine. But, knowing Duo, he'll probably get sidetracked a couple of times. I really with you'd put him last. That way, if we ran out of time we'd be able to just cut his."
"Hey!" Duo shrieked indignantly.
"I have you in the appropriate order." Une glared at the raven-haired girl.
"What's our order again?" Duo asked stupidly.
"Myself, Heero, Relena, Duo, Hilde, Trowa, Cathrine, Quatre, Dorothy, Wu Fei, Sally, Zechs, Noin, and Mariemaia." Une read off her list.
"I still don't see why half those people are even on that list." Mariemaia just stared at her foster mother.
"I thought that the ones closest to the Gundam Pilots and the Gundam Pilots themselves should all give speeches on what it's been like since the war. Relena's assistant Maya will introduce everyone. She'll give their title and position now and in the war." Une turned to look at Relena. "Am I correct?"
"Yes, as far as I know. She's also going to give a little background on each person. So the crowd understands who they are and what they've done." Heero just glared at her.
"Why do I get the feeling you just did this to piss off Heero?" Duo asked incredulously.
"Wherever did you get that idea?" Relena faked looking injured. "Heero's not upset, are you, dear?" Relena flashed a melting smile at her boyfriend. He, of course, melted and looked away. This caused everyone to laugh at a level near hysterics.
"One minute!" A stage hand yelled to the group.
"OK, everyone ready?" Une looked at the group as she prepared to escort Maya onto the stage. Maya had just showed up.
There was a chorus of yeses from the group and Une smiled in relief. She had everyone get out their speeches, then left with Maya.
One the stage, Maya started the Ceremony.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! I welcome you all here tonight to hear the speeches of those most thoroughly involved in this War whose conclusion we are celebrating. Now, ten years after the war, we'll hear them reflect on the war and how it changed the world. Our speakers tonight are: Miss Une, Mr. Heero Yuy, Miss Relena Darlian, Mr. Duo Maxwell, Miss Hilde Schbeiker, Mr. Trowa Barton, Miss Cathrine Bloom, Mr. Quatre Winner, Miss Dorothy Catalonia, Mr. Chang Wu Fei, Miss Sally Po, Mr. Zechs Merquise, Miss Lucrezia Noin, and Miss Mariemaia Khushrenada. Now, with the onslaught of speakers ready to speak to you all, let me introduce the first speaker. Make a note that one or two speakers may come out at once.
"Our first speaker is Miss Une. As her title is Lady Une, the audience knows that this woman holds a very high position of authority. But, above our admiration of her authority, is our respect of this amazing woman. Lady Une started out as a highly ranked official for the Alliance Military, but was on the side of OZ - the Organization of the Zodiac - when they accomplished their coup de tat. She remained with OZ until a gun shot wound stopped her participation in battle. She returned, however, to help lead the world to peace during the Eve Battle. In her broadcasting of the legendary fight between the Epyon Gundam and the Wing Gundam ZERO, she showed the world exactly what was needed for total pacifism. She then started the Government funded organization 'Preventer'. She leads the Preventer Organization to this day and we must admit that she is very good at her job. Now, she will give her speech." The audience applauded the wonderful announcer and watched as Lady Une made her way to the podium.
"I would like to thank all of you for coming here today to hear us speak." She looked out at the crowd, in awe at the size. Streets were packed with people surrounding the outdoor stage. She knew by assumption that there had to be ten thousand people gathered in that one place to hear the speeches of those so readily involved during and after the war. She looked out upon the hundreds of cameras recording the speeches and broadcasting them live on their TV networks. Lady Une smiled in spite of herself.
"When I first joined the OZ Organization I was filled with numerous wishes and desires. At that time, in all honesty, the only thing I wanted was power. But, after following the fights and proclamations, I realized that what I really wanted was an end to the endless fighting and disagreements. That became my goal and aspiration throughout the war and afterwards. It was also my inspiration. A world without any fighting whatsoever is impossible to create. At least with humans leading it. But, we are as close to that point as we will ever be and I'm happy for that development. Due to the efforts of my wonderful crew, we have been able to prevent anything too severe from arising. True peace is here, and I will do everything in my power to protect it. I have people that I love and want to protect just as much as any other person on this planet. Being a soldier out of war doesn't mean that one's purpose is gone, it just means that your purpose has changed. For the soldiers who fought so desperately for peace, their jobs are nowhere near being done. We now protect the peace.
"As was already stated, I have a family and people that I love. After the 196 coup de tat, I adopted Mariemaia and she is now my daughter. I have a wonderful and productive life and there isn't anything that I'd change about anything that has happened to me. My life now exists for the sole purpose of keeping the peace and protecting this wonderful girl of which I do truly love as my daughter. Family, I think, is something that is required in order to learn to accept the way things have changed since the war. The love of others and the love of myself is what has guided me through everything." Lady Une laughed lightly as the audience applauded the end of her speech. As an afterthought, she added, "And the moral of the story is to always find the good in things and love one another." The audience laughed with her this time. Lady Une bowed and walked back offstage.
"Thank you, Lady, for that wonderful speech." Maya smiled in respect as Une left the stage. "Now. Our next pair of speakers are Mr. Heero Yuy and Miss Relena Darlian." The audience clapped as the two walked onstage.
"Now. I'm sure you've all seen them. Miss Darlian is the current Vice Foreign Minister to the colonies and Mr. Yuy is the head of her security." Half of the audience laughed, the other just smiled respectively. "I'm sure you've all seen at least one of Miss Relena's speeches. If you haven't, you don't know what you're missing!" Relena blushed as the audience laughed lightly. "If you haven't seen Mr. Yuy, or perhaps just didn't recognize him, Miss Relena asked me to add that he's the one who's always following her around." Heero nearly facefaulted, Relena smiled innocently, and everyone else laughed.
"Now, Mr. Yuy is known for a few other things as well." Maya continued after the laughing had - for the most part - stopped. "As he doesn't seem to want to tell us much about his past, all we know is the few details he's provided throughout the war. Mr. Yuy is best known for being the pilot of Gundam Unit 01 - Wing Gundam, and Gundam Unit 00 - Wing Gundam ZERO. He is Gundam Pilot 01 and was one of the pilots in the final fight of the Eve War." Maya allowed the audience to applaud, and grinned when she noticed Heero had turned a slightly reddish color and Relena was smiling at him.
"Mr. Yuy was also the Pilot to break the defenses of Mariemaia's base during the coup de tat of 196." The audience applauded once more and Relena held on to the hand on the one she loved most. Though he looked more like a tomato than a human being.
"Now, Miss Relena is someone we all know as the Vice Foreign Minister. She has been holding her position for close to the last ten years, and doing it well, mind you." The audience cheered and all of the speakers had the sudden feeling that a lot of them had just come to personally see Relena talk. "Miss Relena was one of the first people to support the Gundams during the war, though she never got the chance to get to know Mr. Barton or Mr. Chang very well during that time. She is proud that she helped out, and was a great help, too. Mr. Maxwell asked me to add that she was probably the one who prevented the war from ending differently. He asked me to say something else as well, but it's not quite appropriate." The audience laughed and everyone heard Duo's cry from the back of "Oi!"
"Miss Relena would also like to embarrass Mr. Yuy further by assuring that they are going out. If anyone was curious." Heero turned - if possible - an even darker shade of red and Relena smiled triumphantly while the audience laughed. hard. "Now, with no further ado, if he is able to speak coherently, Mr. Heero Yuy is going to give his speech." They all laughed harder and Heero went up to the podium. He had clamed himself down pretty well and had returned to a healthy facial shade.
"I was asked to give a speech today about how I felt during the war and how I feel now." Heero began. Most of the audience was slightly taken aback at the deep tone of voice he had and how it was more of a monotone than a pitch. "During the war, my objective was originally just to destroy OZ, as my superiors had commanded me to. During the course of the battles, however, my mind formed its own - slightly subconscious - objective. And, much to the dismay of myself and most likely a few of you, I have yet to figure out what that was. During the war, even I must admit that my actions and ways of doing things changed. I went from knowing the absolute purpose of my fighting to not knowing what the hell I was doing." Most of the audience laughed at his use of 'an inappropriate word', while the other half fumed.
"If I were to take into consideration everything that happened - all the changes and additions to my life - I would most likely find what I am looking for, my objective. However, that is not my desire. During the twenty-five years that I have been alive, I have realized three major things. The first being that peace is much better than the endless struggle that is war. The second being less obvious. I once told a friend of mine - he knows who he is - that it is always best to act off of one's emotions. That's not always the easiest thing to do. Sometimes, what your heart tells you to do is in exact contradiction to what your head is screaming at you. I've had years of training to make my abilities as a soldier as high as they are. In my training, I was advised to listen to my head, and not my heart. The man who told me this said that it was easier that way. He said that my heart would only bring me sorrow and pain. To be honest, that's how I've lived most of my life. Ignoring what my heart tells me, and doing what my head insists is right. Until the war. During the course of that one year war, I realized that my what my heart was telling me to do was what I really wanted to do and that what my heart said was what would have the best results. Now I realize that even that thought is wrong. I am not God, so I cannot declare truly which is correct. My heart or my head? But, in my experience, doing what your heart tells you to do leaves you feeling the best later. For those who are wondering, that is exactly how I mastered the ZERO system. My head only did what the System told it to. My heart listened to its feelings. I know that most of this audience - and all of the audiences in their homes - have no idea what I'm talking about. So, my conclusion to this issue, is when it comes to fighting and violence, your head usually has the results to keep you from becoming mortally wounded, so it is the best choice. But, when dealing with living creatures, your heart knows the most compassionate way to deal with things. As the war is over, you'd think that my heart has won me over. As I mentioned at the start of this subject, it's not that simple. I can't just pretend that my training never happened. I know it did and I can't change what happened to me. I can only say that each person needs their own conclusion to this subject. Mine is adequate to me and me alone. I don't think that I have a duplicate anywhere, so my answers apply to me alone. I only hope that they help somewhat in your own search. So that no one has to go through what I did." Heero paused for a moment and let out a large breath. Unbeknownst to him, his love was on the verge of crying, as was almost every member of the audience and most backstage.
"The third thing that I've learned is that no matter what you think, nothin can be accomplished if you do it alone. Sure, there are things like reading and writing and drawing that are solitary activities, but after a while, you'll wind up sharing them with someone, who shares them with another, and another, until almost everyone knows what you do and either agrees or disagrees. Never shroud yourself in solitude, it'll only end up coming back at you. I grew up with people who were - for the most part - much older than me. I guess the person closest to my age was the man who raised me when I was very small and he was twenty-eight years my senior. In all respect to these people, I must admit that I didn't have any very good mentors in my youth. The only thing that mattered to them was the fact that I could be manipulated, as I was still a child. I guess, in all aspects, I didn't really have a childhood. I was forced to 'grow up', as one would call it, far too quickly. But, in spite of everything, even I now realize that no one deserves to be alone all the time. Everyone needs someone. Just to know that they're cared about. To give them a reason to go on. Even me, the most suicidal maniac among the five - six, rather - of us needs someone to make sure he doesn't screw something up horribly. I know that some of you out there are snubbing your noses to me and saying 'Yeah, right! I don't need nobody!'. Believe me, no matter how independent you are, or how much people laugh at you, you need somebody; and, if you wait long enough, somebody will come." He let a small smile slip in Relena's direction. "And if someone as seriously screwed up as I am actually found someone that they think cares about them, I'm sure you can, too. No matter who you are." He smiled slightly to the audience. It was a small sad, yet knowing smile. As though he were looking at every person directly and understanding. He bowed his head in the Japanese manner, and left the podium to go and stand next to Relena once more. The area was still and quiet for some time before one single person started clapping and everyone joined in whole-heartedly. Heero just smiled slightly and nudged Relena in the direction of the podium as she didn't seem to be moving.
Maya, however, came to the rescue. "Very. nice. speech, Mr. Yuy." She said almost breathlessly. "And now, Miss Relena Darlian would like to giver her speech." The audience applauded lightly and Relena went up to the podium.
"I'd again like to thank everyone for coming and caring enough to listen to a dozen or so long and boring speeches." The audience laughed. "Well, I'm not so sure I can say that truthfully. I know that plenty of the speeches you'll hear tonight are going to be very. entertaining. To say the least." She smiled as she thought of Duo and Hilde. "Now, Heero and I originally wrote our speeches together, but he didn't exactly follow his, so I guess I'm just going to have to improvise. Not that his other speech was anywhere near as good as that." She smiled lightly as her lover blushed gently and watched her every move. She sighed and smiled lightly. Some things would never change. "If I'm not badly mistaken, I think that my dear Head Of Security just bested the speech I myself wrote. I'd like to console myself with the thought that he's done this before, but he seems to be shaking his head." The audience laughed at Relena's fake conceit.
"Well, I guess I'd like to start by stating the well-known fact that the peace we know live in could not have been possible if not for a few select people who did more than their fair share in the war. I don't think I'm allowed to go on about this, as your previous speaker is glaring at me. Yes, dear, I know what you want to say." Relena chuckled lightly and the audience watched in mild confusion, but definite enthusiasm.
"Now, I didn't really do all that much during the war in means of fighting, but everyone seems to insist that I did help a bit in the coming of peace." Heero flicked a paper clip at her. "Hey, you! Watch it!" Relena laughed at him. "Or maybe I'll just have to embarrass you in front of thousands of people." She stuck out her tongue and he just grinned back with a look of mock innocence, "Well, peace really is a wonderful thing, but that's not what I'm about to talk about." She smiled. "I can practically hear the thousands of soft sighs of relief. I'm pretty sure you were all worried that I was going to give one of my peace speeches again. Well, lucky for you, I'm not." She put up her nose in a look of mock snobbery. "I'm going to talk about what I've noticed about the Gundam Pilots and how they've changed since and during the war." She smiled at Heero's only partially covered look of pure terror. "Don't worry, I'm focusing this on all of you." She looked up in thought. "Well, a little more focused on Milliardo, Heero, Quatre, and Duo than Trowa and Wu Fei as I didn't know them very well during the war. I'm sorry to the two of them. I'll also focus a few things on Miss Noin and her relationship with us all." Relena smiled.
"Well, for starters, I didn't even know that Milliardo was my brother until during his and Heero's fight in Antarctica (forgive me if that's the wrong location! I know it's either Antarctica or Siberia. ^^;;). So, it's OK to say that I didn't meet him first during the war. That was actually Heero. Then Duo, but that's a rather odd story. So, of course I'm going to tell you!" She smiled sweetly. "Well, no offense to you, Heero, but he wasn't exactly a pleasant person to be around when I first met him. He knocked out a med squad and stole the ambulance." She shrugged nonchalantly as the crowd laughed. "Then he showed up at my High School and told me he was going to kill me. How pleasant! Then I met Duo, he was resurfacing Wing and Deathscythe and Heero had been intending to destroy his Gundam. So, for some reason I still don't comprehend, Duo shot Heero. I think it was because Heero was going to shoot me. But, he did and Heero wound up at the hospital. Not solely because of that, but that's just plain a weird story. Duo was his charming sarcastic self even then, though I do think that he had a little more on his mind. Well, I met Milliardo after them, then Quatre. To sum up their personalities, Heero was moody and extraordinarily annoying to be around, Duo was chipper and made a joke out of everything, Milliardo seemed to have a lot of steam to blow off, and Quatre was as pleasant as is humanly possible. Well, as the war progressed, Heero got slightly less moody and Duo wavered between being more optimistic and less so. Milliardo gained even more steam, and Quatre got a little bit less pleasant, as I think he was confused. Well, their personalities didn't change much until the final battles with the White Fang and Libra. I think that they became more aware of each other and of what they were trying to accomplish. During the final battle, I must admit that I couldn't see the point of it. It took me a while; call me dense if you like. Well, it wasn't meaningless, as we all can see. I think that I realized how important that battle really was to everyone, the soldiers mostly. And Miss Noin. She helped them all so many times in so many ways that I could never. I also think that her friendship with my brother stopped him from doing a few things he might have regretted afterwards." Relena smiled. "I think that Miss Noin's belief in them helped them all through the battle. She was very supportive and helped out in any way she could. I know that it may seem that I did nothing. But, I know I did and Heero if you look at me like that one more time I'm going to deck you!" The audience turned its attention to Heero to notice that he was glaring at her. "I know I helped you all, too! You don't have to remind me!" The audience laughed at how aggravated she was getting.
"Well, now in this time of peace, I've noticed things slowly change. Some are for the better, and some for the worse, but that's how life goes. You have to take the good with the bad. I finally got to know all of the Gundam Pilots and admire each of them for their separate skills. Heero has lightened up a bit. It's still not quite normal for people to behave as he does a lot of the time, but he's getting better. I think that has a lot to do with Duo constantly hanging around our home." She raised an eyebrow. "At least the rumors were wrong." She giggled as Heero's eyes widened and he glared at her as hard as he could. "I hope to not get into that." She winked at the audience. "Well, Duo's gotten even more optimistic and jokes constantly. Though, some of his gags aren't funny. Like the whole video camera thing in the kitchen. See now, that was just weird." The audience laughed. hard. "Trowa has gotten a little more social. He used to hardly speak at all, now he actually holds conversations with me! I'm dying to hear his speech tonight." She grinned maniacally. "Quatre, if possible, is now more polite and considerate than he was before, and Wu Fei has serious problems with women." She laughed, the audience raised eyebrows, Wu Fei yelled indignantly from backstage, and Heero could hardly keep from laughing. "Well, the last two people to consider into this are my brother and Noin. Milliardo no longer looks like he wants to deck somebody all the time, though I know he'd love to deck poor Heero here." She mocked feeling sorry for the boy with super-human abilities. "And Noin hasn't really changed much. Her and my brother are usually together, she stills helps out with anything she can, and she still dyes her hair blue. I think it's actually kind of classy." Relena smiled cheerily. "I know that speech was - for the most part - pointless. But, I summed up how everybody acts and didn't preach about peace, so I think it was pretty good. Considering I improvised. Now you can judge for yourselves how much you think they've changed. You can also judge the love interests." Relena grinned in a way that made everyone wonder if she had a secret. "Well, once again, thank you for coming." The audience cheered enthusiastically.
"Well, now, weren't they wonderful? Can I have another round of applause for Miss Relena and Mr. Yuy?" The audience clapped once more. "Well, our next two speakers are Mr. Duo Maxwell and Miss Hilde Schbeiker." She pointed to the stairs Relena and Heero were descending and Duo and Hilde emerged.
"Now, Me. Maxwell is best known for being Gundam Pilot 02 and one of the most chipper people on the planet. He's also known for his yard long braid." The audience laughed, then pretty much stopped when they realized that Maya was serious. "Mr. Maxwell was raised on the L2 Colony cluster and won't tell us anything more, so we don't have much to tell you. Now, he and Miss Hilde have been married for the last six years and still get along wonderfully. They have two children, a daughter named Kaijuu, which roughly translated means 'Monster' in Japanese. Duo claims that Heero thought it up and only told him what it meant after Duo named his child that. Their other child is a son named Joshua. Josh is three and Kai will be six next September. Roughly nine months after their sixth wedding anniversary," The audience members ho understood this all laughed. Scarily, some didn't. "First to speak will be Mr. Maxwell." Duo poked her once. "Oh! I forgot to add that Hilde is only going by Schbeiker on stage in case of someone recognizing her name and not her face. Her legal last name is Maxwell, too."
"Thank you!" Duo took over the microphone. "Well, it's my turn now, so I hope I do a good job! I'm going to talk about what things I think helped the war turn out the war it did. First off, we all know that the war ended in peace and harmony, but I know a few ways it could have ended otherwise. First off, I think we all know that there had only been a sliver of a chance for the war to end the way it did. I may be bias, but I really believe that Heero and Relena had more to do with this than anyone else. 'Cept for maybe Zechs, but he was the bad guy, so we needed him either way." Duo smiled. "For those of you who don't know, Heero wasn't kidding when he said 'Suicidal Maniac' about himself. I, personally, think that Relena's probably the only reason he didn't go through with it so many times. I know that hundreds of thousands of other people played great roles as well, and none of this would have been possible without them, but I really am bias I guess. I think that people give too much credit to us Gundam Pilots. Seriously, why would we fight? We had to have reasons, right? And those reasons involve people. I think that was Lady Une's secret motif for inviting Cathrine, Hilde, Dorothy, and Mariemaia to give speeches. Well, Mariemaia may have just been a given, too. Without these people backing us up, I don't think that any of us - us being the Gundam Pilots - could have been able to survive the war. I have Hilde, Heero had Relena, Trowa had his sister Cathrine to protect, Quatre had all of his sisters, though they aren't here, and he also had Dorothy in ways that only he and she understand." Duo almost sweatdropped. "Wu Fei had Sally to count on and defend whether he wants to admit it or not. He should admit it, as they're married for Cripes sake! And Zechs and Noin kinda had each other, though they to this day aren't romantically involved, or not that anyone knows about. Which is odd. Maybe they really are just best friends, who knows? I ain't all-knowing or anything like that. We all had people that we counted on, and I don't think that enough credit goes to them. We Gundam Pilots are practically the only ones admired for winning the war, when really, we couldn't have done anything without motivation. I know how I felt when Hilde was threatened. I didn't like that at all. Everyone has someone, like Heero said. I think that those people should get more credit for this. So be sure to give them a nice round of applause, 'K?" He grinned. "That's pretty much all of my speech. Lady Une is probably sighing in relief back stage. I'm kinda the goof off. Well, everybody needs someone to lighten things up! Am I right?" The crowd cheered. "Thought so. Well, listen good and hard to Hilde here, she deserves it just as much as anyone else giving a speech." Duo left the podium and Hilde stepped up.
"Well, thanks to Duo's nice little speech, I think I've figured out why I was invited. But, I still don't know what role I played. First off, I was a member of OZ, and when we captured Duo, I met him. He kinda defeated me and changed my mind about what I was fighting for, so I decided to help him and the Gundam Pilots. But pretty much all I could do was give Duo a place to live. I tried the whole getting data off Libra thing, but Duo wound' up saving me from that, too. I guess, I must have made a difference somehow, as all living things have a role to play. I've lived a happy life so far, and I think it'll stay that way for quite a while now. It's just a feeling I get. I don't regret anything I've done and I don't expect to ever do so. All things have a purpose so don't try to stop the inevitable. Shit happens, live with it!" Hilde laughed. "I don't really have a very good speech planned, and that was most of it, but I really do enjoy being here and seeing all these people loving peace and how the world has changed. Remember what it was like during the war and think about how we are today. Everything is just so wonderful now. We live in peace and are able to love the ones we love with no one stopping us. We can live life to the fullest. That's for sure. I just hope that no one ever takes that for granted." Hilde smiled. "That's all my speech. I know it wasn't long, but I put a lot of heart into it, and I think it came across pretty well, right?" The audience cheered loudly and Hilde blushed and walked down from the podium.
"Those were both wonderful speeches, weren't they?" Maya asked the audience and got another applause for her answer. "Next up are Mr. Trowa Barton and Miss Cathrine Bloom. Give me a round of applause for our two next speakers!" The crowd did so and Trowa and Cathrine came out from back stage. "Mr. Barton is best known for being Gundam Pilot 03 and one of the most silent people I've ever met. He's great at acrobatics and works at a circus. Miss Cathrine, his elder sister, also works for that same circus and is a knife thrower. Trowa hasn't told us of his past either, so we're not at liberty to say anything. Miss Cathrine has lived on her own since her parents died. She's very talented and does many things that a lot of people only dream about. Welcome these two to the stage!"
Trowa and Cathrine walked onto stage and Trowa walked up to the podium.
"I'd like to talk about recognizing and liking who you are." Trowa smiled lightly. "I know I sound like a psychiatrist, but that's OK by me. You see, I have no memory of who I really am or what my real name is. I went by 'Nanashi' for most of my life. I was called Trowa after the real Trowa Barton was killed and I took his place. I didn't really like not knowing who I was, or not knowing anything about myself, but there wasn't really all that much I could do about it. After a while, I stopped caring. I like my life, and my name. As a result of war, I have no real name, and no memories, but it's OK.. I don't mind anymore. I know that this doesn't wound like it has all that much to say about war, but in its own way, it's similar. It's the reason I was ever in the war and how I got in. I think it's relevant and something that people should hear. I'm sorry if this was short, but I don't like talking in front of too many people. I like to contain myself to my thoughts." He bowed politely and stepped down, allowing Cathrine the stand. The audience applauded loudly,
"Well, like Hilde, I don't know what all I did for the war, but I did try to be there for Trowa. He's my brother and I'll do all I can to help him. Before I knew he was my brother - and I still don't know for certain - I still did all I could to help him. It doesn't matter if you like a person or not, you should show compassion for them and their ideals anyway. Maybe share your opinion with them and see what they think of it. Don't judge people by what they like to who they are. Think about what's on the inside. Loving someone doesn't mean you're related to them or want to marry them, it can just be compassion for another person. I'm not going to go and say that if we did this there wouldn't be any war, that's not true. People are bound do disagree sooner or later, and if those are brash, hot- headed people with a lot of money and supplies, it could turn into a war. Most wars do start from a single disagreement. That's just how things work, ya know?" Cathrine smiled. "That's about all I wanted to say. Sorry if it wasn't all that relevant." Everyone clapped.
"Well, short but sweet, ya know?" Maya laughed lightly and the crowd cheered. "Next are Mr. Quatre Raberba Winner and his fiancée Miss Dorothy Catalonia. Mr. Winner is Gundam Pilot 04 and one of the nicest damn people I know! He always has his heart in the right place and has more compassion than I could ever dream of having. Quatre has twenty-nine elder sisters, so that could be why." She winked at the audience. "Miss Dorothy is - what she likes so way - practically Quatre's opposite. I think that she's wonderfully nice, but she says that she and Quatre are polar opposites. Judge for yourself!" With that, the two walked on stage and took Trowa and Cathrine's places. Quatre stepped up to the podium.
"Thank you for coming and listening to us all speak, it is a truly wonderful thing. During the beginning of the war, I thought that fighting was stupid and pointless, and refused to do more than absolutely necessary. After fighting for quite a while a realized that fighting really is necessary. There must be some bad times so that we appreciate the good times. I love life and hope to live it to my fullest. To me, there is no more important thing than life. I though that the people who started wars felt that life was worthless. Granted, there are people who feel that way, but I don't. The people who start wars usually aren't all that different from you and me. They have hearts and souls, and compassion, and live life the same as everyone. They just become either confused or have some ulterior motif for why they're fighting. Like with Mr. Treize. He just wanted peace. He tried to bring it round through military involvement and succeeded. Yet, at one point and time, he was our enemy. He was really a good person, so whose to say that all the people who start wars aren't like that. Sure, there'll be those conceited people who just want power and the might to rule over others, there'll always be people like that. The world won't change over night, and I don't think that it'll even change all that much." Quatre smiled and blushed. "I usually have much better and longer speeches than this, but this is what my heart told me to write and read, so I did. I'm sorry if some people disagree with me, that's how it goes." He bowed politely. "Now, I'll let Miss Dorothy talk." He stepped aside politely and let Dorothy through.
"Well, now! He really is polite, isn't he?" The audience laughed. "We're getting married in three weeks and he still calls me 'Miss Dorothy'. No offense, love, but that's rather pathetic." Quatre blushed and the audience laughed. "Well, I used to think that I loved war and fighting and things like that. I used to follow the Gundam Pilots around just to see the good fights. I found myself strangely intrigued by them and thought that that was why. But, over time I realized that it wasn't the war that I loved. It was the passion used in that war. My father was killed in war, and I thought that that would be a heroic way to die. I was wrong. Wishing to die heroically basically says that you won't. Heroics aren't what are really important in life. It's why you do the things you do. I found that I loved war because I knew that it would one day lead to peace. And it did, thank God. Now, I love peace and want nothing other. I know that there will be more wars and people will always continue to fight as it is in our nature, our very blood to fight. But, when that happens, a whole new set of heroes will appear out of nowhere when you least expect it and save everyone, like the Gundam Pilots did. They really did save us all, and I'm glad. I hope that the next war happens after I die, as well. I know that is rather conceited of me, but I think that one is enough in every person's lifetime. Even less! Well, that's my whole speech. I hope you enjoyed it." Dorothy bowed and she and Quatre left the stage before the audience had a chance to applaud tem. They had been cut off earlier as well when Dorothy started directly after Quatre finished and they though that it would be rude to clap while she was speaking.
"Right! Next are Mr. Chang Wu Fei and Miss Sally Po. I'm also supposed to mention that since they're married. her legal name is Mrs. Sally Chang. Or Chang Sally, however they prefer." The two stepped onstage. "Both of these speakers have asked me to only announce that Mr. Chang is Gundam Pilot 05 and Miss Sally was a doctor for the Alliance and later spent her time helping the Gundam Pilots. Now Mr. Chang will speak.
"I would like to talk about a few things that I've realized. My speech isn't long, and if you for some odd reason feel the needs to applaud in the middle, please refrain. And if you really think that my speech sucked, don't applaud. False gratitude is worse than just sitting and not saying a thing." The audience remained silent. "At the start of the war, I was fighting just to avenge the death of my wife, Chang Meilan. But, as I continued fighting, I realized that the war had meaning for me too. If you do something half-heartedly, you come out with a half-hearted result. Things like that are suicide in war. As the war progressed, I realized that I wasn't just fighting for Meilan anymore. I realized t that I was fighting for me, too. When I realized that, I was able to put her soul to rest. If you don't put your heart into something, you can't realistically expect wonderful results. Things like that only happen in books or fairy tales. Not in real life, not in war, nor in anything else. Also, I must admit that I used to think lowly of women. Hate me if you wish. I know now that women are just as good as men, some better. But we are all human, thus we are all equal. That's just so you don't think lowly of anyone who rags on me about that subject." He bowed and everyone applauded. Sally walked up to the podium next.
"Well, during the war, I didn't really do anything all that impressive. I just did what I could to help the pilots out. I retrieved the Gundams, rescued people, was rescued, and provided assistance. I don't ask for recognition unless you believe that I deserve it. I did what any other person in my position with my options would have done. Helping them was the least I could do. I did a little extra forcing Wu Fei to admit that women are just as good as men, but it seems I made him fall in love with me as well. Oh, well, I don't mind." She grinned evilly. "We were asked to talk about the war and I have. I know that the others each talked about a specific part, but I like to sum things up. I didn't do anything that great, so I won't say that I did. I did what I could and I don't regret it. I don't regret making Wu Fei fall in love with me either, as he's glaring at me for that little comment." The audience laughed. "Maybe it was vice verse, but I don't think so. Women are a lot more provocative than men could ever be. Also, Maya failed to mention that Wu Fei and I asked her to tell you about our children. Unless Wu Fei got to her and told her not to, she probably forgot. Oh, well, I'll do it. We have three children. Yes, actually more than hyper boy Duo. That's only because I had one of them first and then twins. We got married about three years ago - it'll be four in April - and had our first child about eight and a half months after the wedding. But, the child was premature so we weren't naughty." Sally almost cracked up as Wu Fei turned a bright red color. "The twins were born about three months ago. Our eldest in Cassandra, and the twins are Brittany and Michael. Despite Wu Fei's former lack of passion for women, I think that he spends more time with his daughters than with his son." She laughed out loud this time. "Well, that's all, so we'll let Zechs, Noin, and Mariemaia go." She grabbed Wu Fei and dragged him off stage before the applause could start.
"Hmm. why do I get the feeling that some of these people don't want applause?" Maya shrugged. "Well, next is Mr. Zechs Merquise - or Milliardo Peacecraft, whichever - and Miss Lucrezia Noin." The two walked on stage talked lightly about something. "They've asked mo not to even mention anything. They figured that enough would have been said earlier. I think it has." The crowd was silent. "Well, Mr. Merquise will give his speech now."
Zechs walked up to the podium. "I'd like to comment that, yes, it was me who started the White Fang and fought against the Gundams in the Eve War. Why am I not in jail? Got me." He smiled lightly and the audience laughed. "But, the war was necessary as it taught us how much we rally want this peace, and we earned it outright. My only intention was for peace to come, though it did not seem that way at times." Noin almost choked trying to hold back laughter and he glared at her, only provoking more laughter. "Ok, ignore her." He said is an irritated manner. "Someday another will come like me to test the peace or to break it, I have faith that we'll win once more and that the people will be just as glad at that ten year anniversary as we are now. In time, peace will start to get boring for some people, and people will respect it less. But I know that the people who are watching all of these speeches will appreciate the peace a little longer. What we're doing is reliving the war for you. So that you don't become hasty with this fragile peace. Don't suddenly decide that it's boring this way, remind yourself what you went through last time. That's really all I have to say. I'm not very good at making speeches, that's why Relena was in charge of the Sanc Kingdom and not me. I'd never do the job properly, Just remember all the pains we've gone through and remember what peace is worth to all of you." He stepped down and everyone applauded. Noin went up next.
"Well, I don't really know what to say up here, so I'm just going to say what's on my mind. For those of you who are sitting at home or in the audience and think that we're just trying to moralize you, you're wrong. We're just trying to make you understand that peace is worth a lot more than you think it is. Maybe if you didn't fight in the war, or didn't take sides, or didn't really care, you don't think of this as so big. But those of you who did do those things, don't you think that you appreciate it just a little bit more? Hearing someone else's opinion on things always makes them more clear to me. I don't know about anybody else. I love this peace that we have, and I know that deep down, everybody does. I just hope that everyone sees that place deep down. I don't want a repeat of the Eve War. Everything was just so confusing. No, a more understandable war would be better. But, I know that isn't possible, so I'll just hope that peace is always the goal of the wars." She nodded her head. "Thank you." The audience clapped loudly for her brief, but realistic, speech.
"Well, two very good speeches. We have only one speaker remaining. Her name is Mariemaia Khushrenada. She was one of the main people involved in the coup de tat of 196. She's sixteen years old and has just as much to say." Mariemaia walked out.
"Thank you for actually listening to me after what I've done. I know that peace is a fragile thing and that one should not mess with it once it has been attained, but every now and then, even I believe that the peace should be tested so that people don't take it for granted. I know that people won't take this peace for granted for a long time, so I have nothing so worry about." She smiled a cute smile. "That's all I really had to say, so let's just have everyone come out and we'll answer your question and talk to you." All fourteen speakers lined up on the stage, am isle was made for them to walk through, and they each went down to meet and talk with the people who had come. They mingled and went to pretty much everybody they could.
That evening ended successfully. But what awaits tomorrow? All you can do is wait.
*~~*~~*~~*
OK, so I went mildly overboard. Was anyone expecting terrorists to bomb? Well, let's just say that this isn't that type of story. Now, for the speeches.
In all reality, I went with what I thought the characters would actually say and have done. At the end, if yo noticed, things got a little shorter and more abrupt. Well, there were two reasons behind that. The first being that I've sat and written this whole thing out in one five-hour sitting. Good grief, ne? The other being that that's how I thought those characters would really act.
Heero: Why'd you make mine the longest speech?
Ann: Uh. 'Cuz that's how I thought it'd turn out? I mean, if provoked by Relena, you'll do pretty much anything. Plus, I though that you'd have the most to say and take the anniversary more seriously than the others.
Duo: OK, my speech was kind of mean.
Ann: So?
Don't worry, I don't go through everybody. It's 10:30 and I've been writing since roughly 5:30 (Actually, I think it might've been 4:30. Right after G Gundam.). Well, did anyone notice the fact that this is chapter one and that this coincides only a little with the prologue? Well, that has a reason! This chapter was only to sum up what they'd all been doing, what the year was, what was going on, and such. My main story is a romance! ^^ I have certain. bias' but that's OK! I think that this will wind up being a pretty good fic. So, I think it'll get done. I had to pressure myself to actually finish this chapter and not skip to the next one 'cuz I wanna write it so much. I think you'll get the main storyline there. This story might wind up being three or four chapters (or less), with just a prologue and epilogue. There might be a sequel, but probably not. I know that this chapter (and the prologue for that matter) could stand on their own and have a sort of bias, but that's ok. I thin that every chapter of this story will be able to stand on its own. I'm pretty sure that they'll all be about his length, too. (Oh, dear God.) I just hope I don't get extravagant and write like twenty (or even ten for that matter) chapters. that'd be insane! Well, stay tuned for the next installment.
This was written August 14, 2002 by Ann Lowe on her laptop. Number of pages in original font: (Rage Italic, size 10): 11 pages and 3 inches Number of pages in Arial size 10 font: 11 pages and 9.4 inches Number of pages in web format (Arial 12): 16 pages and 9 inches (that's almost 17 pages.!)
Not Including this or my title as I added that later. That's just the body plus the note at the end. It starts with une yelling dammit. Well, that's all my notes. Damn long stories. Not my record! That's 29 pages Harlow Solid Italic size 10 font! ^^ (That's about 12 more of these pages. H.S.I. is slightly bigger! Geez! They wouldn't let me put just h si in capitals. or h s I in all lower case. Stupid word.. I have to have the weir things. Like periods and weird paring.