Shadow of the Revolution

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, whether it be characters, plot, mecha designs, etc. Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise and its creators, and I don't make any claim to it.

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Shadow of the Revolution

Chapter Two

Mariemaia Khushrenada sat in her wheelchair, looking at the grave of her father, and his beloved Lady Une. She placed the flowers she held in her hand on their graves. She thought it was very fitting that her father and the one he loved most were buried together. Lady Une had died some months ago, and Mariemaia had felt great sorrow at the time of her death. She had been like a mother to her, more so of a mother than her real mother had been. Mariemaia had no place to go, but Relena had kindly offered to take her to live in the Sanc Kingdom. She didn't really care what happened to her anymore, she just felt emptiness, and pain. People told her the pain would be cured with time, but Mariemaia really didn't feel like living. Unshed tears formed in her eyes, as she thought back to all the happy times she had with Lady Une. It was so hard to let her go. The tears spilled over and rolled down her cheeks. Soft, whimpering sobs choked Mariemaia before she could stop herself. She had promised herself she wouldn't cry anymore, after spending the first month of Lady Une's death doing so.

"It's so unfair," she whispered to the wind. "It's so unfair."

Dark storm clouds gathered above, and Mariemaia could tell by the rumbling that there would be a storm soon; but she didn't really care. She just sat and stared, as though her staring could bring her father and 'mother' back to life. Soon the rain poured down and beat upon her shoulders. The water soaked her, and the cold left her numb. It didn't bother her though, and she didn't care. Caring was a positive emotion, and she had been void of positive emotions for a long time. Sitting in the rain, it was as though the heavens cried for her, and mourned her loss. Her tears were mixed in the rain, and she didn't know how long she had been sitting there. The rain finally stopped, and Mariemaia noticed a rainbow.

"Do you know where rainbows come from, Mariemaia?" she remembered her real mother asking her once. Mariemaia had told her that she didn't know, but she would like to.

"They are formed when the sun reflects off water droplets in the sky. Usually rainbows form after it rains, when all the clouds have disappeared and the sun shines again. Something good always happens after something bad. Remember that Mariemaia; it's almost a fact of life."

'That's not true,' Mariemaia thought bitterly. 'What's the 'good' thing that's supposed to happen? What good can come of Lady Une's death?'

The wind whispered around her, as if showing her its sorrow. Leaves rustled, and in the distance, Mariemaia heard the sound of birds cawing, returning home to their nests to rest for the night. She sighed heavily, not knowing what she was supposed to do. For the flicker of a moment, she thought she heard the sound of a flute playing in the distance. She strained her ears to hear it properly, but heard nothing and thought that it was just something she had heard in her mind. It was a familiar melody; one she might of heard when she was very young and couldn't quite remember. It was a soft and beautiful piece of music, soothing to hear. It was almost like a half remembered dream; she knew she'd heard the song somewhere before. She sighed again, unaware of footsteps approaching her from behind.

"Here you are, Miss Mariemaia," a recognizable voice called to her. "Please come back with me. Miss Relena has been worried sick about you."

Mariemaia turned to face the concerned face of Lucrezia Noin, her good friend and older sister. Noin had been taking care of her, and Mariemaia was grateful that there were people that stilled cared for her, but she needed to be alone. She had to let the tears flow and set her emotions free, otherwise she knew she'd explode; but she couldn't do that in front of others. Since she was supposed to be the leader of the world, she had been trained since she was young to hide her fears and confusion. Now those were two of the things she felt all the time, but her instincts still told her too hide how she felt. Noin came around her wheelchair to face her, and knelt so that their faces were at the same level. Mariemaia lowered her eyes to the ground; she expected Noin to be very angry with her. Relena must be really worried, but to Mariemaia's surprise, Noin's voice, as she spoke, was not at all filled with anger, but concern.

"I know how hard this must be for you; I can understand your pain. But please, don't give up and stop living. There are still people here who care for you. You have to keep living your life. It's very empathetic of you to hold onto the memory of Lady Une, but you mustn't stop living completely. It's wonderful to keep your loved ones close once they've passed away, but at the same time, be alive. You've still got the rest of your life left, and I don't want to see you waste it."

Mariemaia gathered up her courage and looked up at Noin. Instantly she felt her stomach tighten in knots, and guilt overflow her. Noin looked horrible; she looked pale and about to collapse at any moment. Her hair was in disarray, and the bags under her eyes suggested that she hadn't had enough sleep, if any at all. Mariemaia knew that Noin had probably been up for days searching for her, even though she should've known exactly where to find her. She immediately regretted her decision to run away; she knew she couldn't hide from her problems. She just wanted to be able to see her 'mother' again, that's all.

As if reading her thoughts, Noin spoke again.

"Please come back with me, Miss Mariemaia. You can come and visit Lady Une's grave as often as you like. We just want to take care of you, and it's quite a shock for us to discover that you've disappeared. Miss Relena and I want you to be happy, and if you're not happy in the Sanc Kingdom, then you don't have to stay. But you can't spend the rest of your life sitting here. Please, Miss Mariemaia, come back with me."

Tears filled her eyes once again, and Mariemaia lunged forward and held Noin tightly. Her tears rolled down her cheeks, and Noin tried her best to comfort the grief-stricken girl.

"It's ok, Mariemaia. It's alright. You can cry. Everything's going to be okay now, I promise."

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Quatre walked into the Winner Corporation Headquarters, and was met with smiling faces and cheerful 'hellos.' He walked through the security guards, who nodded acknowledgement to him. Into the main foyer, through a hallway past the conference room, Quatre took an elevator up onto the third floor. He turned left, and walked down a relatively short hallway until he came up against grand wooden doors. He took out a small golden key from his pocket, and placed it in the lock. A small click echoed down the halls as he turned the key, and Quatre pushed the doors open to reveal his office. He went in, and closed the door behind him. The office was nicely decorated; the wooden walls had pictures of his ascendants, the people who had owned the office before him. A Persian rug covered the floor, and a crystal chandelier hung above, lighting the room softly. A desk was placed on the wall furthest from the doors, and Quatre walked over and sat behind it. He looked at the stack of paperwork he still had to do and groaned.

What a way to start the day, he thought to himself, but then a thought hit him. At least I have something to look forward to tonight, he smiled as he thought of the party. Thinking about the party reminded him that he still had no one to go with.

'Call her,' a little voice in his head told him. 'And ask her.'

'But what if she says no,' another voice argued back. 'You hardly know her, either. You'd feel totally stupid if she said no.'

Still half arguing with himself mentally, Quatre decided that it was worth the risk. He picked up the phone, and dialed the number on the business card Sonya had given him. The secretary picked up the phone, and he asked to talk to Sonya.

"I'm sorry, sir, Miss Dracy isn't at work today. She took the day off. May I take a message?"

"Uh… no, that's ok. Thank you very much."

He hung up the receiver, and turned back to face his paperwork.

Took the day off? I wonder what she's doing…

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Duo sat impatiently beside Heero, fidgeting with whatever he could find, waiting for the teacher to come in and the lesson to start. He leant back on his chair, put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. He opened them again when he heard the door open and feet come in. He sat up straight, and looked down expectantly at the teacher; except when he looked at her, he saw someone else walking beside her. He saw the familiar ebony hair, turtleneck, and khaki pants. He smiled to himself.

She's even in this class. This must be my lucky day.

"Good morning, everyone," the teacher spoke. "I'd like you all to meet your new classmate. Please introduce yourself."

"My name is Blade Violet. It's a pleasure to be here," she said in a melodic voice, smiling as she did so. Some of the students smiled or said 'hello' back, before the teacher assigned Blade a seat.

"Where shall be put you? Hmm… take the empty seat beside Duo please."

And it just got better, Duo thought to himself. Blade quietly walked up to Duo and slipped into her seat.

"Hey!" he greeted cheerfully.

"Hi," she answered.

"I'm Duo, and this is my friend Heero," Duo said, indicating with his right hand towards Heero.

"Hi Heero," Blade greeted. She was only met with a sort of grunt.

"Don't mind him; he's always like that. So, are you new in this colony?"

"Yeah, I used to live on Earth."

"Really, now? So, that would make you an earthling?"

"Well, yes. Why? Don't you like earthlings?"

"Not particularly. But for you I'll make an exception," he beamed.

"I guess I'm a lucky earthling, then," she replied teasingly.

"Guess so," Duo said softly, and they turned their attention back to the teacher, who was talking about the history of wars.

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Author's Note: Ok, ok, I know this was boring and a very horrible chapter. But I'm one of those authors who's into character development, so bare with me. I promise it'll get more interesting soon. Kywraith Amnesi, I really love your story, and I hope to write like that someday. Myst-Lady, I think I just might write a Darien/Relena fic. It would be interesting. I love writing pairings that people hate. Thank you both for reviewing, and please keep giving me feedback. I need reviews!

That's all for now!

~Seeress~