Title: Ghost Knight 6/?
Author: Anne Khushrenada
Disclaimer: *sigh* This again? I'll return Treize's
ghost, Mariemaia, the Gundam pilots, and Lady Une
when I'm through with them, but the twins, Alice, and
(shudder) Linnea are all mine.

Two months later
April, AC 200

Lady Une reached for her jacket with one arm,
cradling Lucian against her with the other. "Shh,
shh, it's alright, darling..."

Lucian, his deep blue eyes gazing into hers, seemed
to grow calmer at his mother's words, as if he knew
and trusted the truth of them. Trusted /her/, to keep
him safe. It might have been more amusing if someone
other than herself had been cast in the starring
role.

"I am /not/ cut out for this," she said, struggling
to shrug into the jacket without having to set Lucian
down, for as soon as she did that, he'd start up
again.

"Yes you are, Lady Une," said Alice McKenzie, once
her assistant in the days when the two of them had
served OZ. Alice held Terra, who was amusing herself
by playing with the blonde woman's loose hair. Alice
didn't seem to mind it much, and the even-tempered
young woman had seemed very much a godsend when Une
had brought the twins home. She truly didn't know how
she would have managed to cope without Alice.

"I know, I just-" Une sighed, managing at last to
juggle Lucian long enough to stuff her other arm into
the coat sleeve. "Sorry, little one. Alice, I just
feel... Oh, it wasn't supposed to be like this, I
wasn't supposed to have to do it alone."

"You're not alone, Lady," Alice said, smiling as
Terra giggled at her. "You've got more friends than
you know. Me, the Peacecrafts, Dorothy and Catherine
and all the others. Not to mention-" Here Alice's
gaze turned briefly to the single red rose now
adoring Lady Une's desk in a crystal vase, the rose
which had been there for months now "-You Know Who."

Une smiled at that. "I wouldn't go around speaking
about that much if I were you. Enough people think us
all mad as is."

Alice laughed. "How little they know. I've got to
admit that even I don't totally understand it, but I
don't need to. You and Mariemaia both say he's still
around- sort of, as Mariemaia put it. That's good
enough for me."

Une nodded. "I'm late!" she exclaimed. "And I still
haven't anything new for the Council on the bombing,
either. I'm sure they'll love that."

"They'll get over it," said Alice. "I sent Heero and
Wufei to talk to them in your place, by the way...
you need a break."

"I took a break when I had the twins."

"Two months is not enough time."

Une shrugged back out of her coat, and collapsed into
the chair, Lucian still in her arms. "Perhaps you're
right." She drew a sudden sharp breath. "Alice. You
sent them Heero and /Wufei/?"

"Yes. What's wrong with that?"

Une sighed. "Of all the Preventers, their social
skills are the- how shall I phrase this? -least
developed."

"Wufei's not so bad- Sally's been working on him, I
think. And anyway, Nichol's worse." Alice made a sour
face, which Terra attempted to copy, with interesting
results. "He keeps calling, you know. I still think
you should have accepted Duo's offer to go and beat
some sense into him."

Une shook her head. "I don't think it would take,"
she said, "although it's probably about the only
thing that hasn't been tried yet. It wouldn't work,
though."

"Doesn't it /have/ to work, by virtue of its being
the only thing left?"

"That'd be nice," Mariemaia said as she entered the
room. She placed her hands on her hips and shot her
mother a disapproving look. "You're not going /out/,
are you?"

"No," said Lady Une with a laugh. "Let us just say
that Alice talked me out of it."

Alice looked to Lady Une, some unspoken question in
her eyes, and Une nodded. Only then did Alice hand
Terra to her mother, and approach the girl.

"Mariemaia, Quatre's sister, Iria, called earlier. Do
you know who she is?"

"The doctor," Mariemaia replied, "right? She's some
kind of geneticist, I think."

"That's right. She's been doing some regen work with
your friend David."

Mariemaia's face lit up. "So he'll be able to walk
again?"

"Maybe. Depends how well the regen takes- or if it
takes at all. But they don't have him as heavily
sedated anymore, and Iria says he wants to see you.
He's been kind of insistent, actually..."

"Mother-" Mariemaia began.

Une smiled. "I can see how much it means to you,
Mariemaia. If you'd like to go and see your friend,
by all means, go. But- be careful."

"Don't worry," Mariemaia said with a smile. "Mister
Ling, David's father, has police officers watching
all the bombing survivors who are still in the
hospital, and that includes David." She bounded out
of the room, calling over her shoulder, "Just let me
get my coat."

"Take her, please," Une said to Alice. "But be extra
careful."

"You know something I don't, boss?" Alice asked.

"Not really, but I do have a feeling that whomever
set or had set the bomb in the Council chamber hasn't
reached their goals yet."

Alice didn't speak for a long moment. Then she said,
"What are the chances of them making an attempt, or
attempts, upon the survivors?"

Une sighed. "I'm very sorry to see I'm not the only
one who thought of that. And truthfully I don't know.
If they're going to go that route, and they have the
means to know about it, Mariemaia and David in the
same room will be a tempting target. But I can't
simply lock her away and hope that no one finds a way
to hurt her. It's a fine line, between too much
protection and too little, and it will grow finer as
she grows."

Alice nodded. "You know I'll watch her like a hawk,
Lady," she said. "And, let's face it- if someone can
get her in the police chief's son's hospital room,
we've got real troubles." On that happy note she went
into the hall to wait for Mariemaia, calling out,
"C'mon, kiddo, let's go for a drive, shall we?"

* * *

Mariemaia and Alice stepped off the elevator, and the
little girl glanced about, nodding as she noted the
presence of the uniformed police officers. Chief Ling
himself stood out in the hall near the door to his
son's room, speaking quietly with the young
policewoman seated beside the door.

"Ah, Miss Mariemaia," Ling said, giving her a tired
smile. "David will be glad to see you."

Mariemaia nodded in greeting. "How's he doing?"

"Fairly well...considering. How's your mother?"

"She's well, sir."

"And the little ones?"

"They're doing fine."

Alice looked at Mariemaia and sighed. "Things would
go so much easier for you if you were this polite to
everyone."

"I see no reason to be polite to everyone," Mariemaia
replied. "I save that for those who deserve my
respect."

Ling turned to Alice, a curious expression upon his
face.

Alice offered her hand. "Alice McKenzie, of the
Preventers. I work for Lady Une."

Ling shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss
McKenzie. Mariemaia, you can go on in if you'd like."

"Thanks," said Mariemaia, as she stepped up to the
door and pulled it open.

Ling sagged against the wall once she was gone. "I
simply do not understand this," he said at last. "Do
you have children, Preventer McKenzie?"

Alice shook her head. "No, sir, I don't. My lover
died during the war, and my work keeps me busy now,
too busy to find another one even if I wanted to.
I've been helping Lady Une with the twins, though..."

Ling nodded. "They're so fragile, children. You think
that you can protect them, but the minute you let
them out into the world..."

* * *

Mariemaia settled herself in the chair beside David's
bed, scratching at the plaster of her cast. The thing
itched, had itched for several long weeks now, and
she wanted it /off./

"Hey," said David Ling. "You made it, good."

Mariemaia nodded. "It seemed important. My mother's
kind of busy with the twins, but..."

David sighed. "I remembered some stuff, about that
day we went to the Council."

"Yeah?" asked Mariemaia.

"There was this lady, I saw her when I was- you
know..."

"When you were walking to the bathroom."

"Yeah. She was acting really strange, you know,
stomping around like she was angry."

A sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Mariemaia
said, "Describe her."

"Around your Mom's age I'd guess, maybe a little
older. Blonde, pretty, sort of... fairy tale
princess-like."

"Delicate," Mariemaia supplied. "Like she's going to
break. But she's got these eyes- grey, almost silver
-and they look right through you."

"You saw her, too," David said flatly.

"Let's just say we've met. I know who she is."

"Does that...help you guys any, Mariemaia? I don't
want the people who did this to do it again."

"Me neither," said Mariemaia. "Listen, David... I'm
glad you're going to be sort of okay, and I'd like to
stick around and talk-"

"But you think this might be important, and you want
to take it to the Preventers?"

"To my mother, yes."

"Okay. Can you come back and see me sometime?"

"Sure, David." Mariemaia squeezed his hand. "If you
remember anything else, tell your father."

She exited the room then, struggling with the door,
banging her cast against the doorframe. Ling and
Alice moved to help her, and she waved them off
sharply. "I've got it." She looked up at the cop.
"Mister Ling...?"

"Yes, Mariemaia?"

"I asked David to let you know if he remembers
anything else about what happened. If he does-"

"I'll get in touch with Lady Une," Ling promised.

"Thanks." Mariemaia turned towards the elevator,
alone, and Alice rushed after her.

"Mariemaia-"

"I'm going home. I'll be fine. See you later."

Alice shook her head as she watched her go.
"Mariemaia..."

"How badly has the bombing affected her?" Ling asked
her. "She seems so...so..."

"Bitter," Alice supplied. "That's the best I can come
up with. And she's always been like that."

* * *

"Father," Mariemaia said softly to the gravestone
before her, "I don't understand this. Help me figure
out what to do! I know what David's telling me, and I
think I even know what it means, but... no one
understands, really. They think I'm overreacting. How
can I show them she's really dangerous?"

But from her father there was no answer. Mariemaia
could not shake herself of the thought that he would
have answered her mother. He would have come to her
aid in a heartbeat, as it seemed he always did...

* * *

The Place Between Worlds - Well of Souls

Treize watched his daughter, and was grieved that he
could not go to her. But Death stood firm, and
something troubled the specter to such an extent that
even Treize, even the Ghost Knight, would not cross
him unless he felt it absolutely necessary.

"Leave the affairs of the living, to the living,"
Death snapped. "Come away from there, and let us
speak."

"Of what?" Treize asked. "I am neither living nor
dead; You say I cannot have any part in their world,
yet I feel I have none in yours."

"You do, and before you interfere further, I would
tell you of it."

"Once you said you could not tell me what I was."

"Once, I did not know. It has been such a long
time..." Death drew him away from the Well of Souls.
"Come. I will show you."

And because he knew not what else to do, and the
specter's words had made him curious, Treize walked
with Death. Along the edge of the River of
Forgetfulness they walked, and Death gestured to this
River as he spoke.

"See the River, here," Death said. "The River that
rejected you once, and would do so again, were you to
attempt to enter it. Your fate is not to be that of
many, then."

Treize smiled lightly. "Are you saying that you were
wrong?"

"You must not think of it in those terms. What is,
is. What I thought of it does not matter."

"You are Death," said Treize.

"I am the spirit of Death, yes," said the specter,
and Treize found this distinction interesting indeed.
"And there is a reason I call you Ghost Knight. It
is- what you are. I have known it all along..."

"What?" asked Treize.

"Your powers, the abilities you should not have, but
which you do possess. These come to you from what you
are. The Ghost Knight. Death's Companion."

"I have never heard of such things."

"Of course you would not have," Death rather scoffed
at him. "Foolish to think you would have. There has
not been a Ghost Knight in more ages than you could
measure."

"Dare one ask what became of the last to hold this
honorable post?" Treize asked.

Death patted his arm almost affectionately. "You call
us old friends, you and I, Treize. And you cannot
imagine how old. /I/ was Ghost Knight once, to
another Death."

"Another-? But Death is eternal."

"The force called death is, certainly. But Death
begins his reign as any other soul- but a soul given
a special choice, the choice to inhabit this realm
for a time, discharging the duties of Death. And the
exact details of what those entail, you need not know
yet."

"Yet," Treize said. Then, after a long, thought-
filled pause, "You were given a choice. Why was I
not?"

"Ah, but you were. Your heart made the choice for
you. When first I saw you here, I called you by that
ages old name, Ghost Knight, and did not think to
question why it was I did this. But tell me, do you
truly believe I would grant a boon to any soul who
might chance to pass this way, simply because they
ask it of me? Particularly a boon so very great..."

"I chose this," Treize said. "I understand. I /did/
choose. But now- What?"

"It is as you have doubtless seen, hardly easy to be
Death's Companion, the friend of Death. This is a
great burden to bear, do not mistake it. But there
are- compensations. Your powers- you have used thus
far not even half of what you possess. You cannot
live again, not this way, but you may do nearly
anything else you might wish to."

"Show me, then, how I might protect the children,
keep them safe from harm."

"Ah, Ghost Knight. No. That, I fear, is not possible.
I was not entirely truthful when I told you what the
price of my boon would be. For because I am both the
present and the future, I knew that were you to go to
your Lady, one of the three children would return to
me. It is a certainty, it is not a thing which you or
I could stop."

"You made me flesh and blood. You gave me the freedom
to aid her whenever she called me, and the power to
help send her back when she nearly died of the
birthing of the twins. And that is but a small
measure of your power."

"Yes," said Death, "but over life I have no power,
only death."

"Then simply prevent the death."

The specter shook his head. "I cannot. All things,
all beings, die."

"But my children...so young..."

"Yes," Death agreed, "but listen, hear the words I
would say to you. Of all who ever have or ever will
reside in this realm, only the Ghost Knight can touch
the realms of the living. Only he or she can affect
physical change there."

"You did those things," Treize said again. "Your
power worked the necessary magic."

"Yours did, lad," Death said. "All the magic, the
power that was needed, came from you. You have
transformed yourself, always- flesh to spirit, and
back again. You made what choice you would, and I
bestowed upon you the powers. From that point on they
were yours to do with as you would."

"And the River-"

"I sent you to the River to test you, to see what
both you and it would do. If it accepted you, you
were not the one, and you would have remembered
naught of it in that case. But if it were to cast you
out, to deny you passage- that alone would have been
remarkable enough. Even more so is that you fought
it. You /fought/ it. No one in my living memory had
ever done such a thing, though many, perhaps
everyone, may have tried. Few succeeded- those who do
are marked."

"Marked by what? Or whom?"

"The fates, destiny, whatever you would term it."

"And if I do not believe in those things, what then?"

"Your belief is not required. The universe knows the
truth, and your doubt is not enough to shake the
foundations upon which it rests. But for my part I
would hope that you would come to see this world, our
world, with eyes opened anew. Come, there is much I
must show you, Ghost Knight."

"Yes," Treize said softly. "There is much I wish to
see. And I have very many questions."

* * *

Mariemaia found her mother laying upon the couch in
the library, a book open in her hands.

"Mother?"

Lady Une set the book aside. "Mariemaia."

"Twins asleep?" Mariemaia asked.

"For now, at least. You look troubled. What's wrong?"

"David saw somebody just before the bomb went off,
acting suspiciously."

Mariemaia had her mother's full attention now, that
much was clear. "Who?"

"From his description, it almost has to be Linnea."

"Um." Une sighed. "That's not exactly what I wanted
to hear."

"But you're not surprised."

"No. Unfortunately not." Une glanced at the clock
upon the wall. "Is Alice still here?"

"Probably. She never goes home. Want me to check?"

"Yes, if you don't mind. Oh- Mariemaia?"

"Yeah?"

"How is your friend doing?"

"Seems alright," Mariemaia replied.

Une sighed, but Mariemaia had already gone from the
room.

* * *

Alice sat wordlessly across from Lady Une, fingers
toying with her blonde braid. "You look troubled, old
friend."

"I said nearly the same to Mariemaia. Her friend,
David Ling, observed Linnea Khushrenada acting
suspiciously just before the bomb went off."

"She's a politician. Isn't she acting suspiciously by
definition?"

"Perhaps," Une said. "But something doesn't feel
right about this..."

* * *

"For now, we wait." Linnea Khushrenada finished her
speech to her small but powerful group of supporters
with a chilling smile. "Another five years, perhaps
ten...and then we will begin."

"Why wait so long?" asked one man.

"Because they will expect us to move more quickly
than that, for one thing," Linnea said quietly. "And
for another... Can any of us manage one infant, let
alone a pair of them?"

"We only need one," said the man. Then: "The twins?"

"Yes. Terra or Lucian, matters not. If we get one,
we'll have the other in no time. And then, my
friends, the future is ours."