Title: Ghost Knight 7/?
Author: Anne Khushrenada
Disclaimer: Standard. Gundam belongs to other people.
AC 210
Summer
In the years since the birth of the twins, Lady Une's
small family had grown close, Mariemaia aiding and
defending the twins as needed, and Terra and Lucian
were always more than willing to stand beside one
another. Une felt great pride as she looked upon the
three of them, though friends saw pain in her eyes
when they looked upon Lucian, for he resembled his
father more with each passing day. For the most part,
though, she found her life both busy and fulfilling,
with the children, her career, and the former
comrades and enemies alike who had come together to
form a massive /extended/ family, both for her
children and theirs.
Terra and Lucian were of an age with Elena
Peacecraft, and Lewis Chang, and just now these four,
whom had been friends nearly from birth, were
celebrating the ending of the school term, along with
their younger sibs and cousins, under the amused but
ever-watchful eyes of Pagan, who was now into his
eighties, but still managed to keep up with them, for
the most part.
Lady Une, meanwhile, sat with Elena's parents,
Milliardo and Lucrezia, as well as Lewis', Sally and
Wufei, talking of old times and smiling far more than
she had in years past. The parents of the younger
children, Heero and Relena, Duo and Hilde, Trowa and
Quatre, and- the most surprising development of the
recent years - Catherine and Dorothy, soon joined the
adults' gathering, freeing their younglings, adopted
ones in the cases of the latter two couples, to join
the fray upon the back lawn.
* * *
"Terra, who's that woman?"
Terra Khushrenada looked up at the sound of Elena
Peacecraft's voice. Her 'cousin', Uncle Milliardo and
Aunt Lucrezia's daughter, was perhaps her best friend
aside from Lucian, and they had been sitting for a
time in companionable silence, apart from the others.
Both girls were quiet, introverted, and it made for a
marked contrast between them and their brothers,
Terra's twin, and Elena's younger brother, Galen,
both of whom were bold and outgoing.
"That's-" Terra began to speak, but her breath caught
in her throat as she recognized the woman striding
across the grass in a swirl of white skirts, towards
the stairs to the balcony upon which her mother and
the others sat. "Linnea," she whispered. "Mariemaia!"
Seventeen year old Mariemaia, who had been strolling
along the grounds, arm in arm with her boyfriend,
David Ling (who, thanks to regenerative surgery
preformed by the brilliant Iria Winner, was able to
walk again, on his own two feet), turned sharply at
the sound of her little sister's voice. "Ter?" she
called. Then, "Oh, God. Mother!"
Une's head snapped around to look in the direction
which Mariemaia pointed, her arm straight as an
arrow.
"Excuse me, my friends," she said, pushing back her
chair and stepping away from the table. Une walked
slowly down the stairs, and met Linnea upon the
grass.
"Private party, cousin Lin," Mariemaia said, as she
and David approached. "And I don't believe you were
invited."
"Hello, dear," Linnea said with a smile. "I can see
your manners haven't improved since our last meeting.
If your father were here-"
"-He'd toss you out on your ass for trespassing,"
Mariemaia said.
Une did her best not to sigh. Mariemaia's social
skills, while amusing, were significantly less than
perfect, and her daughter seemed to enjoy keeping
them that way. Perhaps she had simply seen too much
in her short life, been hurt too often by people very
much like Linnea, to afford them any kindness. And
certainly she did not suffer fools gladly, fools such
as Linnea pretended to be- or was.
"It's been /ten years/, Linnea," Une said at last. "I
had hoped we'd seen the last of you."
"Oh, not at all, my dear. Not at all. In fact..."
Linnea removed a folded paper from her jacket's
pocket, and handed it ceremoniously to Une. "I've
come for the twins."
Une's eyes widened in horror as she scanned the
document in her hands, which ordered Terra and Lucian
given into the custody of Linnea and the other
Khushrenada cousins. "Over my dead body," she said
with quiet steel in her voice. "Mariemaia, David,
would you go see to the twins, please? Take them
inside."
"Of course," said David. "Terra, Lucian, come with
us, okay?"
"Why?" Lucian asked curiously.
"Inside," Mariemaia told them. "I'll explain later.
Lewis, Elena, the rest of you, too."
"I will not leave without them," Linnea said flatly,
as Mariemaia and David gathered the children and
herded them into the house.
"Then I suppose you'll be staying a while," Une said,
waving a hand towards her friends upstairs. "Dorothy,
would you be so kind as to get ahold of my lawyer,
please?" Dorothy nodded, and raced inside. Une then
returned her attention to Linnea. "You will not take
them from me," she told the other woman. "I don't
care what it costs me, in time or money or anything
else. I will /die/ before you take them from me. They
are my children, and you cannot take them away."
"Watch me try."
Une took a step towards her, her eyes dark with
anger. "You might have made a case for claiming
custody of Mariemaia- though I'd have fought you just
as hard on that -but on what grounds could you
possibly think to take Terra and Lucian?"
"The fact that you are /not/ my cousin's wife, and it
is beyond possible to prove the twins are his
children."
Une raised an eyebrow at that. "If they are not
Treize's children, they would have no relation to you
at all, and you would therefore have no grounds for
seeking custody. Try again."
"He never intended for you to take advantage of the
genetic bank, I know that for certain."
"You know nothing," Une told her.
"Show me proof, then. Show me proof, and I will leave
you in peace."
Une's heart sank. All they had- or once had -was the
letter, which had been destroyed before the twins
were born. A copy might exist somewhere, but a copy
would not satisfy Linnea. She would want the original
or nothing. The letter could not help her then, not
now.
"I will find you proof, /Miss/ Khushrenada," Une
said, her use of the name clearly intended as an
insult. "I will find a way to prove what you ask- or
to prove that you are /not/ who you say you are. In
either case I will keep my children, and you will
learn there is a price to be paid for lying to me."
"Gods, you're arrogant," Linnea said. She might have
gone on, but Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and the other
Preventers were marching down the stairs, each having
retrieved his or her uniform jacket.
"Anything we can do for you, boss lady?" Duo asked
with an impish grin.
"Yes, if you don't mind terribly," Une replied.
"Kindly show Miss Linnea off my property."
"I'll show her off, alright," Heero could be heard to
mutter. Trowa nodded his agreement, and Une made a
note to talk to the two of them before they did
something...irrevocable.
"This won't be your property much longer, either,"
Linnea said all too sweetly. "I'll have it all- the
lands, the fortune, /everything/, even your precious
Epyon. You will be homeless, poor- in short, back
where you started from before you managed to seduce
my cousin-"
Une was never sure which of them had thrown the
punch; Heero seemed most likely, though he wouldn't
have stopped there, but from the way Catherine smiled
down from the balcony, she suspected Trowa. Certainly
it was Trowa who hauled her back up to her feet, none
too gently, and looked her straight in the eye as he
spoke. "Councilor," he said quietly, "I think it's
time for you to leave. Now."
"You all admire her so, don't you?" Linnea asked
softly. "The lovely, brave and brilliant Lady Une.
She saved you all, didn't she, from fates worse than
death? She came to your rescues, as she came to
Mariemaia's, and of course she is the perfect mother
to the twins, with none better existing anywhere.
She's a saint, isn't she? Perfect. Flawless."
"I wouldn't go that far," Duo said, "but you're not
exactly an angel, either, lady. Come on. Trowa's
right, it's time for you to go. Excuse us, Lady Une."
Before they escorted Linnea away, Lady Une caught her
eye and spoke very softly. "Why do you hate me so?"
"Because I loved him," was Linnea's equally soft
reply, "and he never, ever wanted me."
Une stood in stunned silence as the Preventers walked
Linnea out of her line of sight.
* * *
"That /bitch/!"
"Mariemaia, honey, calm down..." David Ling tried his
best to sooth her, but there was no reasoning with
Mariemaia when she was like this, as he knew all too
well.
"No way," Mariemaia said, "not while /that woman/ is
out there, acting like she's got some Gods-given
right to take the twins away from Mother... Who the
hell does she think she is?"
"Your father's cousin?" David asked.
"The hell she is. I'd never heard of her until she
started pestering Mother about the twins and I." She
sighed, kneeled beside the children, and drew Terra
into her arms. "I'm sorry for all the screaming, you
guys. It just makes me so damned angry..."
"We know," both twins and David said together.
Dorothy stepped into the room, a smile upon her face.
"I just got off the phone with your mother's lawyer.
Who doesn't seem to think Linnea has a leg to stand
on. And as far as I can remember, I'm the only female
cousin your father had, Mariemaia. Most of the family
died during the initial outbreak of the wars."
"Like a lot of people's did," David said. "That's
interesting, though, that you mention that..."
Mariemaia looked at him, then back at Dorothy. "Come
by my apartment later, you two," she said. "I think
we should talk." /And not in front of the kids,/ she
thought, but did not say. The children were all very
smart, and particularly with all of them present,
they were bound to know something was up, but she
wasn't about to lay out her plans for them to so
easily overhear. Her mother might never forgive her
if she involved the twins in this, and Mariemaia had
little desire to, anyway.
"Is it safe for us to go back outside now?" Elena
asked.
Dorothy nodded. "Cath says Linnea's gone. She got a
Preventer escort off the property."
"Goody!" Elena exclaimed, as she tugged at Terra's
arm. "C'mon!"
* * *
As soon as Linnea had gone, Une begged the others'
pardon, and dashed into the house, into her room. She
did not slam the door, but closed it softly, and only
then threw herself down onto the bed with a deep
sigh.
Upon her table, which she gazed up at from where she
lay, was the photograph of Treize she had kept all
these years, and the rose he'd left beside her ten
years ago. That rose, rather strangely, had not aged,
nor had it wilted and died as she had expected it to.
Instead it remained as fresh and new as the night he
had given it to her.
"Oh, Treize," she said quietly, "who is this woman,
and why does she torment us this way? Is there
nothing that can be done?"
Angrily, she threw herself to her feet again, and
began to pace about the room. "She won't take the
twins away from me, she /won't/! I don't know how I
will fight her, love, but I'm damned well going to
try. Not only are they all I have left of you, all
three of these children, but I love them. Which dear,
beloved cousin Linnea most certainly does not..."
The sound of muffled voices out in the hall startled
her out of her reverie.
"Is she in there?" That was Lucian.
"Yes," replied Terra. "Talking to Father, I think."
"She does that," Mariemaia told them. "She- misses
him, a lot." Clearly this was hard for Mariemaia,
who'd never been all that good at dealing with her
feelings, to speak of.
"We miss him, too," said Terra.
* * *
The Place Between Worlds
The world rang with the sound of breaking glass, and
Death slowly opened his eyes, trying to find the
source of that sound. This was his realm, and he knew
it well, and he knew that sound held no place here.
"Ghost Knight." He sighed. Yes, if any would dare
disturb his rest, it would be /that/ one. Death
grasped the scythe in his hand, and made for the
River of Forgetfulness, where it seemed the sound
originated from.
And that sound, Death discovered when he stood upon
the River's bank, was not the sound of breaking glass
at all, but that of breaking /ice/. The River had
frozen over, a thing which it /never/ did, and Treize
Khushrenada stood upon the opposite bank, throwing
stones. The ice broke as each stone struck it and
sank into the river's chill depths.
"You!" Death snarled. "You trespass!"
Treize's head jerked up, and he met the specter's
cold eyes. "Which one will it be, you bastard?" he
answered Death's exclamation with one of his own.
"Which one will you take? Lucian? Terra? Mariemaia?"
And when Death did not answer, his eyes grew as
frosted as the ice he continued to break, and he
spoke more sharply now. "No. /Not/ her. I have told
you a dozen, a hundred times, you /will not/ take her
before her time!"
"And what right would you have, if I chose to, to
stop me?"
"Not only the right have I, but the duty. There are
rules which even Death is bound by."
The specter settled his scythe into the snow-covered
ground, and gave a little sigh as he leaned upon it.
"You know I cannot answer your question. Even I do
not know which it will be until the time comes- but I
will say again that no one whose soul I claim comes
to me before their time."
"You- you-" And the man Death called Ghost Knight
seemed at last to shatter, his armor gone, and he
began to sob. To Death he looked chillingly human,
again. "You can't- you mustn't-"
Death shook his head sadly. "Lad, it is what I do. It
is why I exist. I do not seek to be cruel, but death
is not a kind thing."
"Yes," Treize said bitterly. "I know."
"My bargain with you was cruel, and I should not have
made it."
"No!" Treize was even more vehement now than he had
been before. "It was, and yet it was not. It was my
right to ask it. And in any case it is done. It is
done, and the twins..." He shook his head. "Harm them
in any way, and dead or not I will find a way-"
Death held up a hand. "Hold, Ghost Knight. A moment."
The specter vanished, and appeared again beside
Treize, upon the opposite River bank. "Your pardon.
We needn't shout for all those of this realm to hear.
And there are more and more left to do so now, as the
River seems strangely unable to serve its proper
function."
"Which," Treize said shortly, "I had nothing to do
with."
"I think you did, though you know it not," Death
replied.
"What do you mean?" Treize asked.
"The bargain you and I made- it both ended, and did
not end, with that sunrise."
"I don't understand."
"Nor do I," the specter said. "Nor do I. But I know
this. You are both more and less than human. Not
human enough, you would say, and yet less spirit than
most. Able to touch the world when you will it so, in
small ways, able to reach out and speak to those for
whom you care- your lady, your children, and your
friend. It was not supposed to be this way. There is
no precedent for this."
"Years ago you said to me that I alone was gifted
with the power to touch the world of the living."
"Yes," Death said. "You are the Ghost Knight, and
that is his- or her -own power. But you do...so
much more, that I am at a loss to explain. And
/this/-" Death gestured to the River. "I cannot
explain /this/, and I tell you that quite soon the
Fates will be about with questions which I cannot
answer."
"And do you think I can?" Treize countered. "I had no
affect on this that I can see. If I were to have
changed the River, one should think that the change
would have begun when it rejected me all those years
ago."
"Mm. Yes," Death agreed, "and while it did seem
different after that, I'd expected it to be so. It
has rejected no one in the past."
Treize smiled wryly. "I am not any ordinary man. Nor
was I in life."
Death shook his head. "In any case, this must be set
to rights again."
"Perhaps it /has/ been." Treize seemed to look off
into the distance, as if he were listening to words
spoken from very far away. "Excuse me. I am
summoned."
And as he turned and faded into mist, Death called
after him. "You cannot help them, Ghost Knight!"
"Yet I have done so before. And you are unable to
explain that. I cannot either, but it is so. And what
I /can/ do, I shall."
* * *
Mariemaia stood before her father's gravestone. She
had not come here in years, not since her mother had
decided the twins were old enough to visit, and she
had accompanied them then. She had found herself
overwhelmed by grief, even after all these years, and
had not returned since. But now...
"Father," she said softly. "I know there are those
who think Mother's lost her mind. But I know that she
hasn't. I saw you too, that day, holding Lucian. If
you could do that... Please, Father. Linnea is trying
to take the twins away from Mother; she may
succeeded. If she loses the twins, I don't know..."
Mariemaia shook her head. "She is still the strong
woman you knew, but within her is a weakness now.
That weakness is us, us three, myself, Lucian, Terra.
I am out of Linnea's reach now, but the twins aren't.
Father, you must..."
/I will do what I can, my child./ Her father appeared
before her then, the mirror image of the photograph
which still adorned her mother's dressing table, down
to the blue on white of his uniform and the wisp of
ginger hair brushing his forehead.
Mariemaia nodded. "We'll be doing our best, too,
but..." She sighed again. "Heero, Duo, /and/ Trowa
have each approached me, separately, with no idea the
others had done so, and made it known that they would
be more than willing to see to it Linnea doesn't live
to make trouble for anyone else. But I couldn't let
any of them do that. It's wrong. Although if she
harms one hair on either of the twins, they'll all
have to wait in line."
/I know you've been told your attitude is less than
ideal, Mariemaia,/ Treize said, /but I would have you
know that I am proud of you, as you are. You make me
proud, every single day./
"Thank you, Father," she said, brushing a tear from
her eye. "I..." She shook her head. "Anyway. There's
something funny about Linnea, and David and I are
going to find out what it is. Mother doesn't know,
and we're going to keep it that way."
/Mariemaia-/
"If we get into trouble, we'll call in cousin
Dorothy, or Aunt Sally. But /not/ Mother."
/I understand. Your mother... There are days I wonder
if I truly did her any favors when I came to her that
night./
"Don't say things like that, Father. There are days
when I /know/ the only thing keeping her sane is the
fact she knows you're out there somewhere, that
something of the spirit survives death, and that
she'll see you again."
The ghost before her nodded at her, and they shared a
moment of silent rapport, unspoken understanding,
father to daughter. A promise was made, silent but
clear, that they would, each in their own way, look
after the woman they both loved. They would protect
her, but... There was a depth of sadness in her
father's eyes which made Mariemaia pause, and she
felt compelled to speak.
"What is it?" she asked.
/I told your mother something I should not have- that
there is great sorrow in her life yet to come. She
may think that this is that sorrow. I do not want you
to tell her differently, but there is worse to come./
"You know this for a fact."
/I am the Ghost Knight, dear one. Death's Companion.
I know- too much./ Treize closed his eyes. /Keep
safe, Mariemaia./
"Where-" Her voice caught in her throat, and she had
to fight past that catch. "Where shall I look for
you, if- if I need you?"
/Call me, Mariemaia. I will hear./ And then he was
gone, as suddenly as he had appeared, and she was
once again alone in the graveyard.
* * *
Terra stepped off the elevator and strolled down the
hall towards her mother's office. Lady Une's co-
workers smiled and waved as she passed them, clearly
recognizing the slim, dark-haired girl. She waved
back, but most of her attention was focused on other
things.
When she reached her mother's office, she waited
patiently for Dorothy to finish what she was doing
before clearing her throat.
"Hi, Terra," Dorothy said. "What can I do for you?"
"Is my mother in?" Terra asked.
"Unfortunately not. She had to go to a meeting out on
L2. She said to tell you guys that depending on how
late it gets, she may stay over at the Maxwells', and
come home tomorrow morning. If that's the case, Cath
and I will come over and stay with you and Lucian."
"Okay," said Terra. "Do you know what the meeting was
about?"
"The Preventers' budget, probably."
"Huh," said Terra. "Okay."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Dorothy asked.
"I'm not your mother, but I have access to a lot of
the same resources. And, if push comes to shove, Lady
Une's signature stamp."
Terra smiled. "I don't know. Maybe. Have you got a
minute?"
"Sure," Dorothy replied. She waved over one of the
ubiquitous staffers. "Could you watch the phones for
a second, Jim? Thanks."
Dorothy led the way into Lady Une's office, and
closed the door behind Terra. "So. What's on your
mind, kiddo?"
"I was wondering what would happen to us- to Lucian
and I- if something happened to Mama?"
Dorothy laughed softly. "What a question! Terra, your
mother's fine. Really. She's in perfect health-"
"I know," Terra said. "But what would happen?"
"I'd take care of you," Dorothy said without
hesitation. "Or your sister could, once she turned
eighteen. We're your only living relatives, kiddo,
not counting the extended family- which means crap to
the courts."
"You're sure?" Terra asked. "What about cousin
Linnea?"
"That woman," Dorothy said. She shook her head. "I
don't know who or what she is, Terra, but she
certainly hasn't got anyone's best interests at heart
except her own, and if she's related to us, I'll eat
your mother's Gundam."
* * *
The sound of tapping keys was the only noise to be
heard in the city apartment David Ling shared with
his widower father. Mariemaia sat at David's desk,
her hands upon the keyboard of her laptop, her eyes
upon the screen.
David rested his hands on her shoulders and began to
massage the kinks away. "Come on, Mari. You've been
at this for hours. The data you're looking for will
still be there in a couple hours. Take a break, get
out of that chair. I don't know about you, but I'm
starving."
She turned around to regard him with a shy smile.
"Honestly. All you ever think about is food." David
tugged on a lock of her long red hair, coaxing her
away from the laptop with a series of quick kisses
and even quicker retreats. "Alright, tease. I'll take
a break. I swear, though, there's something really
weird going on here. And it all comes back to Linnea,
whoever the hell she is."
Mariemaia followed David into the kitchen, where he
began fixing up sandwiches from leftovers. "Maybe
we're going about this the wrong way," David said,
pausing with the mustard in hand.
"How do you mean?" Mariemaia asked.
"Well, we've been assuming that while we /know/ she's
lied about other things, the one crucial fact about
her that we have- her name -is for real."
"Are you saying it isn't?" Mariemaia asked.
"I don't know," David replied. "I'm just saying, why
don't we try working from the assumption that it
/isn't,/ and see what we turn up. See if someone
vanished, maybe 'dead', maybe not, about the same
time Linnea Khushrenada came on the scene."
"It's not a bad idea," Mariemaia said, her thoughts
already drifting back to the computer, and the new
angle from which they'd tackle the search now...
She returned to reality to find David staring at her,
his sandwich untouched before him. "What?" Mariemaia
asked.
"You know, my dad won't be home until the end of the
week..."
Mariemaia shook her head and laughed. "David...!"
"What? It's just an idea. And certainly more
entertaining than pouring over old records and
obsessing over Linnea," David replied.
"You may have a point there. Maybe," Mariemaia added
with an upraised finger. "Now why don't you shut up
and eat, before I'm stuck hearing about how I seduced
you into ignoring your dinner?"
* * *
Linnea slid into the booth across from Preventer
Nichol, noting with disdain the thin disguise he
wore. As if that would stand in the way of anyone who
might have recognized him. The idea was ludicrous,
really. She'd have had more respect for him if he
hadn't bothered to try and disguise his appearance at
all.
"So," she said. "I'm told you'd like to help me."
"I'd like us to help each other," Nichol replied.
"There is something we each want, and our desires
don't conflict with one another. Quite the contrary-
I can have what I want, as can you, and we both walk
away happy."
"Interesting," said Linnea. "And what, pray tell, do
you think I want?"
"Terra Khushrenada."
"Only Terra?" Linnea asked.
"Yes. The boy, Lucian, he's too outspoken for you.
He's got too much of his father's fire. There'd be no
reasoning with that one, you'd never get anywhere.
Mariemaia's the same way- it's part of the reason you
could make a case for at least /one/ of the twins not
being his. I don't see any of Treize in Terra. She's
quiet, complacent. You could tell her to do anything,
and she probably wouldn't question it. You can't tell
me a child of /his/ blood with those qualities
doesn't appeal to you."
"I'm confused," said Linnea. "Do you believe both
twins are the children of Treize, or that neither of
them is?"
"It doesn't matter what I believe. Do you want the
girl or not?"
"Yes," said Linnea. "What do /you/ want, Mister
Nichol?"
Quietly, he told her. Linnea considered for a moment,
and then she nodded. "Agreed."
Author: Anne Khushrenada
Disclaimer: Standard. Gundam belongs to other people.
AC 210
Summer
In the years since the birth of the twins, Lady Une's
small family had grown close, Mariemaia aiding and
defending the twins as needed, and Terra and Lucian
were always more than willing to stand beside one
another. Une felt great pride as she looked upon the
three of them, though friends saw pain in her eyes
when they looked upon Lucian, for he resembled his
father more with each passing day. For the most part,
though, she found her life both busy and fulfilling,
with the children, her career, and the former
comrades and enemies alike who had come together to
form a massive /extended/ family, both for her
children and theirs.
Terra and Lucian were of an age with Elena
Peacecraft, and Lewis Chang, and just now these four,
whom had been friends nearly from birth, were
celebrating the ending of the school term, along with
their younger sibs and cousins, under the amused but
ever-watchful eyes of Pagan, who was now into his
eighties, but still managed to keep up with them, for
the most part.
Lady Une, meanwhile, sat with Elena's parents,
Milliardo and Lucrezia, as well as Lewis', Sally and
Wufei, talking of old times and smiling far more than
she had in years past. The parents of the younger
children, Heero and Relena, Duo and Hilde, Trowa and
Quatre, and- the most surprising development of the
recent years - Catherine and Dorothy, soon joined the
adults' gathering, freeing their younglings, adopted
ones in the cases of the latter two couples, to join
the fray upon the back lawn.
* * *
"Terra, who's that woman?"
Terra Khushrenada looked up at the sound of Elena
Peacecraft's voice. Her 'cousin', Uncle Milliardo and
Aunt Lucrezia's daughter, was perhaps her best friend
aside from Lucian, and they had been sitting for a
time in companionable silence, apart from the others.
Both girls were quiet, introverted, and it made for a
marked contrast between them and their brothers,
Terra's twin, and Elena's younger brother, Galen,
both of whom were bold and outgoing.
"That's-" Terra began to speak, but her breath caught
in her throat as she recognized the woman striding
across the grass in a swirl of white skirts, towards
the stairs to the balcony upon which her mother and
the others sat. "Linnea," she whispered. "Mariemaia!"
Seventeen year old Mariemaia, who had been strolling
along the grounds, arm in arm with her boyfriend,
David Ling (who, thanks to regenerative surgery
preformed by the brilliant Iria Winner, was able to
walk again, on his own two feet), turned sharply at
the sound of her little sister's voice. "Ter?" she
called. Then, "Oh, God. Mother!"
Une's head snapped around to look in the direction
which Mariemaia pointed, her arm straight as an
arrow.
"Excuse me, my friends," she said, pushing back her
chair and stepping away from the table. Une walked
slowly down the stairs, and met Linnea upon the
grass.
"Private party, cousin Lin," Mariemaia said, as she
and David approached. "And I don't believe you were
invited."
"Hello, dear," Linnea said with a smile. "I can see
your manners haven't improved since our last meeting.
If your father were here-"
"-He'd toss you out on your ass for trespassing,"
Mariemaia said.
Une did her best not to sigh. Mariemaia's social
skills, while amusing, were significantly less than
perfect, and her daughter seemed to enjoy keeping
them that way. Perhaps she had simply seen too much
in her short life, been hurt too often by people very
much like Linnea, to afford them any kindness. And
certainly she did not suffer fools gladly, fools such
as Linnea pretended to be- or was.
"It's been /ten years/, Linnea," Une said at last. "I
had hoped we'd seen the last of you."
"Oh, not at all, my dear. Not at all. In fact..."
Linnea removed a folded paper from her jacket's
pocket, and handed it ceremoniously to Une. "I've
come for the twins."
Une's eyes widened in horror as she scanned the
document in her hands, which ordered Terra and Lucian
given into the custody of Linnea and the other
Khushrenada cousins. "Over my dead body," she said
with quiet steel in her voice. "Mariemaia, David,
would you go see to the twins, please? Take them
inside."
"Of course," said David. "Terra, Lucian, come with
us, okay?"
"Why?" Lucian asked curiously.
"Inside," Mariemaia told them. "I'll explain later.
Lewis, Elena, the rest of you, too."
"I will not leave without them," Linnea said flatly,
as Mariemaia and David gathered the children and
herded them into the house.
"Then I suppose you'll be staying a while," Une said,
waving a hand towards her friends upstairs. "Dorothy,
would you be so kind as to get ahold of my lawyer,
please?" Dorothy nodded, and raced inside. Une then
returned her attention to Linnea. "You will not take
them from me," she told the other woman. "I don't
care what it costs me, in time or money or anything
else. I will /die/ before you take them from me. They
are my children, and you cannot take them away."
"Watch me try."
Une took a step towards her, her eyes dark with
anger. "You might have made a case for claiming
custody of Mariemaia- though I'd have fought you just
as hard on that -but on what grounds could you
possibly think to take Terra and Lucian?"
"The fact that you are /not/ my cousin's wife, and it
is beyond possible to prove the twins are his
children."
Une raised an eyebrow at that. "If they are not
Treize's children, they would have no relation to you
at all, and you would therefore have no grounds for
seeking custody. Try again."
"He never intended for you to take advantage of the
genetic bank, I know that for certain."
"You know nothing," Une told her.
"Show me proof, then. Show me proof, and I will leave
you in peace."
Une's heart sank. All they had- or once had -was the
letter, which had been destroyed before the twins
were born. A copy might exist somewhere, but a copy
would not satisfy Linnea. She would want the original
or nothing. The letter could not help her then, not
now.
"I will find you proof, /Miss/ Khushrenada," Une
said, her use of the name clearly intended as an
insult. "I will find a way to prove what you ask- or
to prove that you are /not/ who you say you are. In
either case I will keep my children, and you will
learn there is a price to be paid for lying to me."
"Gods, you're arrogant," Linnea said. She might have
gone on, but Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and the other
Preventers were marching down the stairs, each having
retrieved his or her uniform jacket.
"Anything we can do for you, boss lady?" Duo asked
with an impish grin.
"Yes, if you don't mind terribly," Une replied.
"Kindly show Miss Linnea off my property."
"I'll show her off, alright," Heero could be heard to
mutter. Trowa nodded his agreement, and Une made a
note to talk to the two of them before they did
something...irrevocable.
"This won't be your property much longer, either,"
Linnea said all too sweetly. "I'll have it all- the
lands, the fortune, /everything/, even your precious
Epyon. You will be homeless, poor- in short, back
where you started from before you managed to seduce
my cousin-"
Une was never sure which of them had thrown the
punch; Heero seemed most likely, though he wouldn't
have stopped there, but from the way Catherine smiled
down from the balcony, she suspected Trowa. Certainly
it was Trowa who hauled her back up to her feet, none
too gently, and looked her straight in the eye as he
spoke. "Councilor," he said quietly, "I think it's
time for you to leave. Now."
"You all admire her so, don't you?" Linnea asked
softly. "The lovely, brave and brilliant Lady Une.
She saved you all, didn't she, from fates worse than
death? She came to your rescues, as she came to
Mariemaia's, and of course she is the perfect mother
to the twins, with none better existing anywhere.
She's a saint, isn't she? Perfect. Flawless."
"I wouldn't go that far," Duo said, "but you're not
exactly an angel, either, lady. Come on. Trowa's
right, it's time for you to go. Excuse us, Lady Une."
Before they escorted Linnea away, Lady Une caught her
eye and spoke very softly. "Why do you hate me so?"
"Because I loved him," was Linnea's equally soft
reply, "and he never, ever wanted me."
Une stood in stunned silence as the Preventers walked
Linnea out of her line of sight.
* * *
"That /bitch/!"
"Mariemaia, honey, calm down..." David Ling tried his
best to sooth her, but there was no reasoning with
Mariemaia when she was like this, as he knew all too
well.
"No way," Mariemaia said, "not while /that woman/ is
out there, acting like she's got some Gods-given
right to take the twins away from Mother... Who the
hell does she think she is?"
"Your father's cousin?" David asked.
"The hell she is. I'd never heard of her until she
started pestering Mother about the twins and I." She
sighed, kneeled beside the children, and drew Terra
into her arms. "I'm sorry for all the screaming, you
guys. It just makes me so damned angry..."
"We know," both twins and David said together.
Dorothy stepped into the room, a smile upon her face.
"I just got off the phone with your mother's lawyer.
Who doesn't seem to think Linnea has a leg to stand
on. And as far as I can remember, I'm the only female
cousin your father had, Mariemaia. Most of the family
died during the initial outbreak of the wars."
"Like a lot of people's did," David said. "That's
interesting, though, that you mention that..."
Mariemaia looked at him, then back at Dorothy. "Come
by my apartment later, you two," she said. "I think
we should talk." /And not in front of the kids,/ she
thought, but did not say. The children were all very
smart, and particularly with all of them present,
they were bound to know something was up, but she
wasn't about to lay out her plans for them to so
easily overhear. Her mother might never forgive her
if she involved the twins in this, and Mariemaia had
little desire to, anyway.
"Is it safe for us to go back outside now?" Elena
asked.
Dorothy nodded. "Cath says Linnea's gone. She got a
Preventer escort off the property."
"Goody!" Elena exclaimed, as she tugged at Terra's
arm. "C'mon!"
* * *
As soon as Linnea had gone, Une begged the others'
pardon, and dashed into the house, into her room. She
did not slam the door, but closed it softly, and only
then threw herself down onto the bed with a deep
sigh.
Upon her table, which she gazed up at from where she
lay, was the photograph of Treize she had kept all
these years, and the rose he'd left beside her ten
years ago. That rose, rather strangely, had not aged,
nor had it wilted and died as she had expected it to.
Instead it remained as fresh and new as the night he
had given it to her.
"Oh, Treize," she said quietly, "who is this woman,
and why does she torment us this way? Is there
nothing that can be done?"
Angrily, she threw herself to her feet again, and
began to pace about the room. "She won't take the
twins away from me, she /won't/! I don't know how I
will fight her, love, but I'm damned well going to
try. Not only are they all I have left of you, all
three of these children, but I love them. Which dear,
beloved cousin Linnea most certainly does not..."
The sound of muffled voices out in the hall startled
her out of her reverie.
"Is she in there?" That was Lucian.
"Yes," replied Terra. "Talking to Father, I think."
"She does that," Mariemaia told them. "She- misses
him, a lot." Clearly this was hard for Mariemaia,
who'd never been all that good at dealing with her
feelings, to speak of.
"We miss him, too," said Terra.
* * *
The Place Between Worlds
The world rang with the sound of breaking glass, and
Death slowly opened his eyes, trying to find the
source of that sound. This was his realm, and he knew
it well, and he knew that sound held no place here.
"Ghost Knight." He sighed. Yes, if any would dare
disturb his rest, it would be /that/ one. Death
grasped the scythe in his hand, and made for the
River of Forgetfulness, where it seemed the sound
originated from.
And that sound, Death discovered when he stood upon
the River's bank, was not the sound of breaking glass
at all, but that of breaking /ice/. The River had
frozen over, a thing which it /never/ did, and Treize
Khushrenada stood upon the opposite bank, throwing
stones. The ice broke as each stone struck it and
sank into the river's chill depths.
"You!" Death snarled. "You trespass!"
Treize's head jerked up, and he met the specter's
cold eyes. "Which one will it be, you bastard?" he
answered Death's exclamation with one of his own.
"Which one will you take? Lucian? Terra? Mariemaia?"
And when Death did not answer, his eyes grew as
frosted as the ice he continued to break, and he
spoke more sharply now. "No. /Not/ her. I have told
you a dozen, a hundred times, you /will not/ take her
before her time!"
"And what right would you have, if I chose to, to
stop me?"
"Not only the right have I, but the duty. There are
rules which even Death is bound by."
The specter settled his scythe into the snow-covered
ground, and gave a little sigh as he leaned upon it.
"You know I cannot answer your question. Even I do
not know which it will be until the time comes- but I
will say again that no one whose soul I claim comes
to me before their time."
"You- you-" And the man Death called Ghost Knight
seemed at last to shatter, his armor gone, and he
began to sob. To Death he looked chillingly human,
again. "You can't- you mustn't-"
Death shook his head sadly. "Lad, it is what I do. It
is why I exist. I do not seek to be cruel, but death
is not a kind thing."
"Yes," Treize said bitterly. "I know."
"My bargain with you was cruel, and I should not have
made it."
"No!" Treize was even more vehement now than he had
been before. "It was, and yet it was not. It was my
right to ask it. And in any case it is done. It is
done, and the twins..." He shook his head. "Harm them
in any way, and dead or not I will find a way-"
Death held up a hand. "Hold, Ghost Knight. A moment."
The specter vanished, and appeared again beside
Treize, upon the opposite River bank. "Your pardon.
We needn't shout for all those of this realm to hear.
And there are more and more left to do so now, as the
River seems strangely unable to serve its proper
function."
"Which," Treize said shortly, "I had nothing to do
with."
"I think you did, though you know it not," Death
replied.
"What do you mean?" Treize asked.
"The bargain you and I made- it both ended, and did
not end, with that sunrise."
"I don't understand."
"Nor do I," the specter said. "Nor do I. But I know
this. You are both more and less than human. Not
human enough, you would say, and yet less spirit than
most. Able to touch the world when you will it so, in
small ways, able to reach out and speak to those for
whom you care- your lady, your children, and your
friend. It was not supposed to be this way. There is
no precedent for this."
"Years ago you said to me that I alone was gifted
with the power to touch the world of the living."
"Yes," Death said. "You are the Ghost Knight, and
that is his- or her -own power. But you do...so
much more, that I am at a loss to explain. And
/this/-" Death gestured to the River. "I cannot
explain /this/, and I tell you that quite soon the
Fates will be about with questions which I cannot
answer."
"And do you think I can?" Treize countered. "I had no
affect on this that I can see. If I were to have
changed the River, one should think that the change
would have begun when it rejected me all those years
ago."
"Mm. Yes," Death agreed, "and while it did seem
different after that, I'd expected it to be so. It
has rejected no one in the past."
Treize smiled wryly. "I am not any ordinary man. Nor
was I in life."
Death shook his head. "In any case, this must be set
to rights again."
"Perhaps it /has/ been." Treize seemed to look off
into the distance, as if he were listening to words
spoken from very far away. "Excuse me. I am
summoned."
And as he turned and faded into mist, Death called
after him. "You cannot help them, Ghost Knight!"
"Yet I have done so before. And you are unable to
explain that. I cannot either, but it is so. And what
I /can/ do, I shall."
* * *
Mariemaia stood before her father's gravestone. She
had not come here in years, not since her mother had
decided the twins were old enough to visit, and she
had accompanied them then. She had found herself
overwhelmed by grief, even after all these years, and
had not returned since. But now...
"Father," she said softly. "I know there are those
who think Mother's lost her mind. But I know that she
hasn't. I saw you too, that day, holding Lucian. If
you could do that... Please, Father. Linnea is trying
to take the twins away from Mother; she may
succeeded. If she loses the twins, I don't know..."
Mariemaia shook her head. "She is still the strong
woman you knew, but within her is a weakness now.
That weakness is us, us three, myself, Lucian, Terra.
I am out of Linnea's reach now, but the twins aren't.
Father, you must..."
/I will do what I can, my child./ Her father appeared
before her then, the mirror image of the photograph
which still adorned her mother's dressing table, down
to the blue on white of his uniform and the wisp of
ginger hair brushing his forehead.
Mariemaia nodded. "We'll be doing our best, too,
but..." She sighed again. "Heero, Duo, /and/ Trowa
have each approached me, separately, with no idea the
others had done so, and made it known that they would
be more than willing to see to it Linnea doesn't live
to make trouble for anyone else. But I couldn't let
any of them do that. It's wrong. Although if she
harms one hair on either of the twins, they'll all
have to wait in line."
/I know you've been told your attitude is less than
ideal, Mariemaia,/ Treize said, /but I would have you
know that I am proud of you, as you are. You make me
proud, every single day./
"Thank you, Father," she said, brushing a tear from
her eye. "I..." She shook her head. "Anyway. There's
something funny about Linnea, and David and I are
going to find out what it is. Mother doesn't know,
and we're going to keep it that way."
/Mariemaia-/
"If we get into trouble, we'll call in cousin
Dorothy, or Aunt Sally. But /not/ Mother."
/I understand. Your mother... There are days I wonder
if I truly did her any favors when I came to her that
night./
"Don't say things like that, Father. There are days
when I /know/ the only thing keeping her sane is the
fact she knows you're out there somewhere, that
something of the spirit survives death, and that
she'll see you again."
The ghost before her nodded at her, and they shared a
moment of silent rapport, unspoken understanding,
father to daughter. A promise was made, silent but
clear, that they would, each in their own way, look
after the woman they both loved. They would protect
her, but... There was a depth of sadness in her
father's eyes which made Mariemaia pause, and she
felt compelled to speak.
"What is it?" she asked.
/I told your mother something I should not have- that
there is great sorrow in her life yet to come. She
may think that this is that sorrow. I do not want you
to tell her differently, but there is worse to come./
"You know this for a fact."
/I am the Ghost Knight, dear one. Death's Companion.
I know- too much./ Treize closed his eyes. /Keep
safe, Mariemaia./
"Where-" Her voice caught in her throat, and she had
to fight past that catch. "Where shall I look for
you, if- if I need you?"
/Call me, Mariemaia. I will hear./ And then he was
gone, as suddenly as he had appeared, and she was
once again alone in the graveyard.
* * *
Terra stepped off the elevator and strolled down the
hall towards her mother's office. Lady Une's co-
workers smiled and waved as she passed them, clearly
recognizing the slim, dark-haired girl. She waved
back, but most of her attention was focused on other
things.
When she reached her mother's office, she waited
patiently for Dorothy to finish what she was doing
before clearing her throat.
"Hi, Terra," Dorothy said. "What can I do for you?"
"Is my mother in?" Terra asked.
"Unfortunately not. She had to go to a meeting out on
L2. She said to tell you guys that depending on how
late it gets, she may stay over at the Maxwells', and
come home tomorrow morning. If that's the case, Cath
and I will come over and stay with you and Lucian."
"Okay," said Terra. "Do you know what the meeting was
about?"
"The Preventers' budget, probably."
"Huh," said Terra. "Okay."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Dorothy asked.
"I'm not your mother, but I have access to a lot of
the same resources. And, if push comes to shove, Lady
Une's signature stamp."
Terra smiled. "I don't know. Maybe. Have you got a
minute?"
"Sure," Dorothy replied. She waved over one of the
ubiquitous staffers. "Could you watch the phones for
a second, Jim? Thanks."
Dorothy led the way into Lady Une's office, and
closed the door behind Terra. "So. What's on your
mind, kiddo?"
"I was wondering what would happen to us- to Lucian
and I- if something happened to Mama?"
Dorothy laughed softly. "What a question! Terra, your
mother's fine. Really. She's in perfect health-"
"I know," Terra said. "But what would happen?"
"I'd take care of you," Dorothy said without
hesitation. "Or your sister could, once she turned
eighteen. We're your only living relatives, kiddo,
not counting the extended family- which means crap to
the courts."
"You're sure?" Terra asked. "What about cousin
Linnea?"
"That woman," Dorothy said. She shook her head. "I
don't know who or what she is, Terra, but she
certainly hasn't got anyone's best interests at heart
except her own, and if she's related to us, I'll eat
your mother's Gundam."
* * *
The sound of tapping keys was the only noise to be
heard in the city apartment David Ling shared with
his widower father. Mariemaia sat at David's desk,
her hands upon the keyboard of her laptop, her eyes
upon the screen.
David rested his hands on her shoulders and began to
massage the kinks away. "Come on, Mari. You've been
at this for hours. The data you're looking for will
still be there in a couple hours. Take a break, get
out of that chair. I don't know about you, but I'm
starving."
She turned around to regard him with a shy smile.
"Honestly. All you ever think about is food." David
tugged on a lock of her long red hair, coaxing her
away from the laptop with a series of quick kisses
and even quicker retreats. "Alright, tease. I'll take
a break. I swear, though, there's something really
weird going on here. And it all comes back to Linnea,
whoever the hell she is."
Mariemaia followed David into the kitchen, where he
began fixing up sandwiches from leftovers. "Maybe
we're going about this the wrong way," David said,
pausing with the mustard in hand.
"How do you mean?" Mariemaia asked.
"Well, we've been assuming that while we /know/ she's
lied about other things, the one crucial fact about
her that we have- her name -is for real."
"Are you saying it isn't?" Mariemaia asked.
"I don't know," David replied. "I'm just saying, why
don't we try working from the assumption that it
/isn't,/ and see what we turn up. See if someone
vanished, maybe 'dead', maybe not, about the same
time Linnea Khushrenada came on the scene."
"It's not a bad idea," Mariemaia said, her thoughts
already drifting back to the computer, and the new
angle from which they'd tackle the search now...
She returned to reality to find David staring at her,
his sandwich untouched before him. "What?" Mariemaia
asked.
"You know, my dad won't be home until the end of the
week..."
Mariemaia shook her head and laughed. "David...!"
"What? It's just an idea. And certainly more
entertaining than pouring over old records and
obsessing over Linnea," David replied.
"You may have a point there. Maybe," Mariemaia added
with an upraised finger. "Now why don't you shut up
and eat, before I'm stuck hearing about how I seduced
you into ignoring your dinner?"
* * *
Linnea slid into the booth across from Preventer
Nichol, noting with disdain the thin disguise he
wore. As if that would stand in the way of anyone who
might have recognized him. The idea was ludicrous,
really. She'd have had more respect for him if he
hadn't bothered to try and disguise his appearance at
all.
"So," she said. "I'm told you'd like to help me."
"I'd like us to help each other," Nichol replied.
"There is something we each want, and our desires
don't conflict with one another. Quite the contrary-
I can have what I want, as can you, and we both walk
away happy."
"Interesting," said Linnea. "And what, pray tell, do
you think I want?"
"Terra Khushrenada."
"Only Terra?" Linnea asked.
"Yes. The boy, Lucian, he's too outspoken for you.
He's got too much of his father's fire. There'd be no
reasoning with that one, you'd never get anywhere.
Mariemaia's the same way- it's part of the reason you
could make a case for at least /one/ of the twins not
being his. I don't see any of Treize in Terra. She's
quiet, complacent. You could tell her to do anything,
and she probably wouldn't question it. You can't tell
me a child of /his/ blood with those qualities
doesn't appeal to you."
"I'm confused," said Linnea. "Do you believe both
twins are the children of Treize, or that neither of
them is?"
"It doesn't matter what I believe. Do you want the
girl or not?"
"Yes," said Linnea. "What do /you/ want, Mister
Nichol?"
Quietly, he told her. Linnea considered for a moment,
and then she nodded. "Agreed."