Chapter 12:
Heero stared out the window as the globe that was once known to him as home grew larger and larger. They had finally arrived in Quarrentine's airspace after three long days and he was ready to jump into his Gundam and plunge into war. He cocked his head to the side as memories of his childhood filled his mind.
He was only a child, an innocent ten year old, yet his commanding officer pushed him as if he could never be broken. The child's name was Ansel Chiaki, and his family cared nothing for him. Perhaps this thought had been ground into his brain by unauthorized means, but all Ansel knew was what General Kwasi had taught him.
Taobu Kwasi was the only father that Ansel had ever known, but just the sight of the man he called "father" made his skin crawl. He hated the man, and for good reason. Taobu did not allow him to be a child, and all he was allowed to do was train. An escape plan began to form in the inexperienced child's mind.
"Ah! There you are Chiaki!"
Ansel looked up with dread as his teacher walked over to where he was sitting beneath an apple tree, resting his sore muscles from the early morning's training. He glared up at the old man hatefully. Why could he not at least call him Ansel?
"What do you want now?" Ansel asked as he drew his knees to his chin and stared at the ground.
"Do I need a reason in order to come and talk to my son?" Taobu asked as he settled down in the grass beside Ansel.
Ansel looked up at him and frowned, "That's usually the only time you come to me, is because you want something, and, I'm not your son."
"Well," Taobu replied as he stroked his white goatee, "I have news for you."
Ansel was suddenly interested. He could only imagine whether the news was good or bad, "Go on."
"I have found your friend, the Yahara girl, she is in a concentration camp on the very edge of death. They give her only a few days to live."
They found Lark! Ansel was ecstatic, but then his spirits dropped, she was going to die, and soon if he did not do something, "Can we go see her?"
Taobu frowned at the question and sighed as if it was difficult to answer, "I'll see what I can do. But in the meantime, you need to start training."
Ansel sighed angrily. "I'm tired of training! I won't be able to concentrate anyway. Can't you give me a few days to mourn over my friend?"
"Very well," Taobu growled as he stood to his feet, "As you wish."
It had only taken Taobu an hour to find the news that Lark had died in her sleep and that her body had been stolen by her family for them to perform the funeral. Ansel's life was forever changed afterwards. He became a killing machine, the best pilot in the entire army. The only ones who could have treated him like family were gone, and hate filled him were love once had.
Six months later, when Ansel was training, Taobu stopped to give him some unwanted counsel. "You're not performing that correctly."
That had been the last straw! Ansel jumped from the post he had been balancing on and stomped over to his once removed teacher and growled, "I tire of your arrogance old man! What would you know about my technique? Whether it is performed correctly or not? Step off if you wish to keep your good looks."
"My son....." Taobu began, but never got the chance to finish.
In a fit of rage, Ansel jumped at the man's throat, "I told you to never call me that again!"
Taobu fought for his life under the vice-like grip that held onto his throat. But Ansel did not let go until he felt the bones crack under his hand. He smiled wickedly as he stood and let go of Taobu, "I told you once, and I tell you again, I am not your son."
With that, Ansel had left Quarrentine forever by stealing one of the Emperor's Gundams.
Heero woke from his daze with a start. Why could he not remember what had happened after that? Then suddenly it hit him. He had been only ten then, and had happened upon a war between the Earth and the colonies. Of course, he had just rushed into the middle of it. His Gundam had been attacked on all sides at once, and instead of giving up, he had self detonated and survived with a major case of amnesia. He could not remember anything from his past life, so he took the name Heero Yuy and became associated with Doctor J.
Heero frowned. Now it all made sense, except for one thing. Why had Taobu let him believe that Lark had died that night?
"There you are."
Heero turned from the window to stare silently at Lark who pushed by him to peer out the window. "Wow, I can't believe we're home!"
"Yeah," Heero replied as he folded his arms and watched her expression on the glass, "Home."
Lark turned to Heero, "What's wrong with you? Aren't you happy?"
Heero shook his head slowly from side to side, "Too many lost memories."
"But memories are good."
"Not the bad ones."
Lark stared at Heero for a minute, then did something that surprised him, she leaned up and kissed him. When she pulled away, she replied, "I've waited seventeen years to do that."
Heero looked down at Lark and smiled sadly, "If only Taobu hadn't made me believe you were dead for seven years, and the amnesia hadn't erased you from my mind, maybe it could have worked out between us."
"What do you mean Taobu made you believe I was dead?" Lark asked suddenly. "You knew him?"
"Regretfully yes," Heero replied as his gaze fell upon Lark's long brown hair, "He was the only father I ever knew, but when you supposedly died, I wanted nothing of family or friends, and he called me son only once before I crushed his throat with my bare hands."
"You did that to him?" Lark asked in amazement. "I've only seen Taobu once, and that was about five or six years ago when he put me into a concentration camp, but I escaped just like I escaped everything else. He could never hold me, and he could never kill me. He hates me with a pure hatred, and my feelings are the same."
"Six years ago?" Heero asked, suddenly remembering. "But you died eight years ago and I left Quarrentine about seven years ago. He lied to me!"
Lark scoffed, "I wouldn't be surprised if he did lie to you just to turn you into a stronger soldier. I've seen him do it over and over again, using anger to build his fighters. He also knows the legend, and you fit into all that too."
"The legend?" Heero asked suddenly. "But what does it have to do with me?"
"I'm the legendary queen and my six brothers are the legendary kings."
"But you only have five brothers!" Heero replied, then it hit him. "I'm the sixth brother......"
Lark smiled, "Now you understand, but we need to get going, there's a lot to do."
Now Heero smiled too, it was time to go back to war!
_____
Everything seemed to be going her way, but still Lark dreaded the upcoming fight. She glanced around the conference table once before she sat down in her own seat.
"Listen carefully, because I have only one time to tell you this and if something happens to me, you'll have to remember everything on your own. You may take notes, but don't let anyone find them!" Lark warned as she glared at each pilot in turn. "Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" Duo replied as he shrank down into his chair.
"Aye! Aye! Captain!" Quatre saluted.
Trowa and Wufei only nodded, and Heero smiled.
"Ok," Lark replied as she smiled back at Heero, "Here's the plan. All five of you will leave the ship in your Gundams and wait on a nearby satellite, and I will turn myself in to the Emperor. Wait until nightfall before you come to rescue me."
"Question." Heero interrupted as Lark nodded at him to go ahead. "Do you want us to take Nishada with us?"
"Won't that be difficult without another pilot? What if Khan's army attacks you? We'll need all of you if you are even gonna get onto Quarrentine soil."
"But I can control Wing Zero without being inside," Heero replied.
"Oh really?" Lark asked as she raised her eyebrows slightly. "You could have mentioned that before, but can you pilot Nishada?"
"I think the question is, will Nishada let me pilot her?"
"I'm sure," Lark replied, "Ok, that'll make the escape a whole lot easier."
"So we're just gonna meet you at the palace would you say about eleven P.M. and storm the castle till we win then?"
Lark nodded, "Yup, basically that's the battle plan."
"Alright," Heero replied, "Let's get moving, there's so much to do."
_____
It took less than half an hour to get to the satellite and even less to get the Gundams situated.
"Well," Heero said as he frowned sadly at Lark, "I guess this is it, I just found you, and now I've got to let you go again."
Lark wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug, "I'll be alright, they won't hurt me until tomorrow and you'll come rescue me before the morning. If I know Taobu correctly, he is so egotistical that he will convince Khan to have a feast in honor of my capture. We will be reunited once again and we will conquer these fake rulers."
"We've got to get going." Lark pushed herself away from Heero as Trowa joined them.
Tears threatened to spill over as she turned to look at Trowa, "I'm so sorry that I haven't spent that much time with you, but I'm trusting you and Heero to rescue me. Oh Trowa!" Lark could not hold back any longer, she ran to Trowa and buried her face in his shirt.
Trowa looked at Heero in confusion as he wrapped her in his arms, "That's alright, when you defeat Khan, we can be married and we'll have all the time in the world to spend."
Lark looked up at Trowa and smiled, "I love you so much."
"I love you too," Trowa smiled back, "But we've really got to get going."
"Of course," Lark agreed.
"Well," Heero replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I'll see you in the hangar."
Trowa stared after Heero as he left the hangar, "I fear that you love him more than you love me."
Lark looked up at him and frowned, "I can't deny that I love Heero, but he is only a best friend who I adopted as my brother. If all of this had not happened, we probably would be together by now, but Heero is only my brother, nothing else."
"I'm sorry Lark," Trowa replied as he sighed, "It's just that I don't want to lose you."
"You won't lose me," She assured him. "He has Relena and I have you. We both understand that our feelings for each other must never be expressed. So don't worry so much."
He smiled despite his jealous feeling. He did not have anything to worry about, and finally he could relax. He leaned down and kissed her.
_____
"How exciting! We get to fight once again."
Wufei only nodded in agreement to Quatre's comment, but he was just as excited if not more than the blonde Arab.
"I can't wait to find out what Deathscythe can do," Duo remarked.
"I really don't feel like fighting, but we can't fail Lark." All three looked up in amazement as Heero walked into the hangar and joined them.
"Excuse me?" Duo asked as he stood from where he was lounging to gape at Heero. "Am I hearing this right, the great Heero Yuy doesn't want to fight? Your pacifist girlfriend must be rubbing off on you."
"Correction," Heero smirked, "Fiancé, and fighting brings back bad memories."
Before Duo had the chance to reply, Lark and Trowa walked in.
"Well," she said as she looked up and squeezed Trowa's hand, "I have to leave you now, but I will see you tonight."
"Be careful Lark," Quatre warned as he moved over to her and looked down sternly, "Don't let them hurt you."
"Quatre," Lark exclaimed as she hugged him, "You're so sweet!"
Quatre smiled sadly down at her, "I worry about you, you're going to be among people who hate you, and you're leaving those who love you behind."
"But that's alright," Lark assured him, "Because I know that the one's who love me will rescue me."
"I'll see you later," Quatre replied as Duo pushed by him and swung Lark in a circle.
"Just wait, the 'God of Death' will vanquish your enemies!"
Lark laughed as she hugged Duo. "You're so crazy!"
She turned to Wufei and smiled, "I know you won't fail me."
"I don't allow myself to fail." Wufei smiled as he hugged Lark briefly then left to talk to Quatre.
Then came Heero. "Don't worry Sis, we won't be long."
"I know," Lark replied as she hugged Heero one last time, "I'll see you soon."
"Don't worry, you're safe in our hands," Trowa smiled at her as he hugged her, then started away.
Lark stood, squinting at the bright light as the hatch lowered and the five pilots walked side by side to their Gundams waiting just outside, and smiled as they disappeared and the door slammed shut. When she finally pulled herself from the spot, she sprinted to the control room and headed the Yahara Moon to Quarrentine.
Heero stared out the window as the globe that was once known to him as home grew larger and larger. They had finally arrived in Quarrentine's airspace after three long days and he was ready to jump into his Gundam and plunge into war. He cocked his head to the side as memories of his childhood filled his mind.
He was only a child, an innocent ten year old, yet his commanding officer pushed him as if he could never be broken. The child's name was Ansel Chiaki, and his family cared nothing for him. Perhaps this thought had been ground into his brain by unauthorized means, but all Ansel knew was what General Kwasi had taught him.
Taobu Kwasi was the only father that Ansel had ever known, but just the sight of the man he called "father" made his skin crawl. He hated the man, and for good reason. Taobu did not allow him to be a child, and all he was allowed to do was train. An escape plan began to form in the inexperienced child's mind.
"Ah! There you are Chiaki!"
Ansel looked up with dread as his teacher walked over to where he was sitting beneath an apple tree, resting his sore muscles from the early morning's training. He glared up at the old man hatefully. Why could he not at least call him Ansel?
"What do you want now?" Ansel asked as he drew his knees to his chin and stared at the ground.
"Do I need a reason in order to come and talk to my son?" Taobu asked as he settled down in the grass beside Ansel.
Ansel looked up at him and frowned, "That's usually the only time you come to me, is because you want something, and, I'm not your son."
"Well," Taobu replied as he stroked his white goatee, "I have news for you."
Ansel was suddenly interested. He could only imagine whether the news was good or bad, "Go on."
"I have found your friend, the Yahara girl, she is in a concentration camp on the very edge of death. They give her only a few days to live."
They found Lark! Ansel was ecstatic, but then his spirits dropped, she was going to die, and soon if he did not do something, "Can we go see her?"
Taobu frowned at the question and sighed as if it was difficult to answer, "I'll see what I can do. But in the meantime, you need to start training."
Ansel sighed angrily. "I'm tired of training! I won't be able to concentrate anyway. Can't you give me a few days to mourn over my friend?"
"Very well," Taobu growled as he stood to his feet, "As you wish."
It had only taken Taobu an hour to find the news that Lark had died in her sleep and that her body had been stolen by her family for them to perform the funeral. Ansel's life was forever changed afterwards. He became a killing machine, the best pilot in the entire army. The only ones who could have treated him like family were gone, and hate filled him were love once had.
Six months later, when Ansel was training, Taobu stopped to give him some unwanted counsel. "You're not performing that correctly."
That had been the last straw! Ansel jumped from the post he had been balancing on and stomped over to his once removed teacher and growled, "I tire of your arrogance old man! What would you know about my technique? Whether it is performed correctly or not? Step off if you wish to keep your good looks."
"My son....." Taobu began, but never got the chance to finish.
In a fit of rage, Ansel jumped at the man's throat, "I told you to never call me that again!"
Taobu fought for his life under the vice-like grip that held onto his throat. But Ansel did not let go until he felt the bones crack under his hand. He smiled wickedly as he stood and let go of Taobu, "I told you once, and I tell you again, I am not your son."
With that, Ansel had left Quarrentine forever by stealing one of the Emperor's Gundams.
Heero woke from his daze with a start. Why could he not remember what had happened after that? Then suddenly it hit him. He had been only ten then, and had happened upon a war between the Earth and the colonies. Of course, he had just rushed into the middle of it. His Gundam had been attacked on all sides at once, and instead of giving up, he had self detonated and survived with a major case of amnesia. He could not remember anything from his past life, so he took the name Heero Yuy and became associated with Doctor J.
Heero frowned. Now it all made sense, except for one thing. Why had Taobu let him believe that Lark had died that night?
"There you are."
Heero turned from the window to stare silently at Lark who pushed by him to peer out the window. "Wow, I can't believe we're home!"
"Yeah," Heero replied as he folded his arms and watched her expression on the glass, "Home."
Lark turned to Heero, "What's wrong with you? Aren't you happy?"
Heero shook his head slowly from side to side, "Too many lost memories."
"But memories are good."
"Not the bad ones."
Lark stared at Heero for a minute, then did something that surprised him, she leaned up and kissed him. When she pulled away, she replied, "I've waited seventeen years to do that."
Heero looked down at Lark and smiled sadly, "If only Taobu hadn't made me believe you were dead for seven years, and the amnesia hadn't erased you from my mind, maybe it could have worked out between us."
"What do you mean Taobu made you believe I was dead?" Lark asked suddenly. "You knew him?"
"Regretfully yes," Heero replied as his gaze fell upon Lark's long brown hair, "He was the only father I ever knew, but when you supposedly died, I wanted nothing of family or friends, and he called me son only once before I crushed his throat with my bare hands."
"You did that to him?" Lark asked in amazement. "I've only seen Taobu once, and that was about five or six years ago when he put me into a concentration camp, but I escaped just like I escaped everything else. He could never hold me, and he could never kill me. He hates me with a pure hatred, and my feelings are the same."
"Six years ago?" Heero asked, suddenly remembering. "But you died eight years ago and I left Quarrentine about seven years ago. He lied to me!"
Lark scoffed, "I wouldn't be surprised if he did lie to you just to turn you into a stronger soldier. I've seen him do it over and over again, using anger to build his fighters. He also knows the legend, and you fit into all that too."
"The legend?" Heero asked suddenly. "But what does it have to do with me?"
"I'm the legendary queen and my six brothers are the legendary kings."
"But you only have five brothers!" Heero replied, then it hit him. "I'm the sixth brother......"
Lark smiled, "Now you understand, but we need to get going, there's a lot to do."
Now Heero smiled too, it was time to go back to war!
_____
Everything seemed to be going her way, but still Lark dreaded the upcoming fight. She glanced around the conference table once before she sat down in her own seat.
"Listen carefully, because I have only one time to tell you this and if something happens to me, you'll have to remember everything on your own. You may take notes, but don't let anyone find them!" Lark warned as she glared at each pilot in turn. "Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" Duo replied as he shrank down into his chair.
"Aye! Aye! Captain!" Quatre saluted.
Trowa and Wufei only nodded, and Heero smiled.
"Ok," Lark replied as she smiled back at Heero, "Here's the plan. All five of you will leave the ship in your Gundams and wait on a nearby satellite, and I will turn myself in to the Emperor. Wait until nightfall before you come to rescue me."
"Question." Heero interrupted as Lark nodded at him to go ahead. "Do you want us to take Nishada with us?"
"Won't that be difficult without another pilot? What if Khan's army attacks you? We'll need all of you if you are even gonna get onto Quarrentine soil."
"But I can control Wing Zero without being inside," Heero replied.
"Oh really?" Lark asked as she raised her eyebrows slightly. "You could have mentioned that before, but can you pilot Nishada?"
"I think the question is, will Nishada let me pilot her?"
"I'm sure," Lark replied, "Ok, that'll make the escape a whole lot easier."
"So we're just gonna meet you at the palace would you say about eleven P.M. and storm the castle till we win then?"
Lark nodded, "Yup, basically that's the battle plan."
"Alright," Heero replied, "Let's get moving, there's so much to do."
_____
It took less than half an hour to get to the satellite and even less to get the Gundams situated.
"Well," Heero said as he frowned sadly at Lark, "I guess this is it, I just found you, and now I've got to let you go again."
Lark wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug, "I'll be alright, they won't hurt me until tomorrow and you'll come rescue me before the morning. If I know Taobu correctly, he is so egotistical that he will convince Khan to have a feast in honor of my capture. We will be reunited once again and we will conquer these fake rulers."
"We've got to get going." Lark pushed herself away from Heero as Trowa joined them.
Tears threatened to spill over as she turned to look at Trowa, "I'm so sorry that I haven't spent that much time with you, but I'm trusting you and Heero to rescue me. Oh Trowa!" Lark could not hold back any longer, she ran to Trowa and buried her face in his shirt.
Trowa looked at Heero in confusion as he wrapped her in his arms, "That's alright, when you defeat Khan, we can be married and we'll have all the time in the world to spend."
Lark looked up at Trowa and smiled, "I love you so much."
"I love you too," Trowa smiled back, "But we've really got to get going."
"Of course," Lark agreed.
"Well," Heero replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I'll see you in the hangar."
Trowa stared after Heero as he left the hangar, "I fear that you love him more than you love me."
Lark looked up at him and frowned, "I can't deny that I love Heero, but he is only a best friend who I adopted as my brother. If all of this had not happened, we probably would be together by now, but Heero is only my brother, nothing else."
"I'm sorry Lark," Trowa replied as he sighed, "It's just that I don't want to lose you."
"You won't lose me," She assured him. "He has Relena and I have you. We both understand that our feelings for each other must never be expressed. So don't worry so much."
He smiled despite his jealous feeling. He did not have anything to worry about, and finally he could relax. He leaned down and kissed her.
_____
"How exciting! We get to fight once again."
Wufei only nodded in agreement to Quatre's comment, but he was just as excited if not more than the blonde Arab.
"I can't wait to find out what Deathscythe can do," Duo remarked.
"I really don't feel like fighting, but we can't fail Lark." All three looked up in amazement as Heero walked into the hangar and joined them.
"Excuse me?" Duo asked as he stood from where he was lounging to gape at Heero. "Am I hearing this right, the great Heero Yuy doesn't want to fight? Your pacifist girlfriend must be rubbing off on you."
"Correction," Heero smirked, "Fiancé, and fighting brings back bad memories."
Before Duo had the chance to reply, Lark and Trowa walked in.
"Well," she said as she looked up and squeezed Trowa's hand, "I have to leave you now, but I will see you tonight."
"Be careful Lark," Quatre warned as he moved over to her and looked down sternly, "Don't let them hurt you."
"Quatre," Lark exclaimed as she hugged him, "You're so sweet!"
Quatre smiled sadly down at her, "I worry about you, you're going to be among people who hate you, and you're leaving those who love you behind."
"But that's alright," Lark assured him, "Because I know that the one's who love me will rescue me."
"I'll see you later," Quatre replied as Duo pushed by him and swung Lark in a circle.
"Just wait, the 'God of Death' will vanquish your enemies!"
Lark laughed as she hugged Duo. "You're so crazy!"
She turned to Wufei and smiled, "I know you won't fail me."
"I don't allow myself to fail." Wufei smiled as he hugged Lark briefly then left to talk to Quatre.
Then came Heero. "Don't worry Sis, we won't be long."
"I know," Lark replied as she hugged Heero one last time, "I'll see you soon."
"Don't worry, you're safe in our hands," Trowa smiled at her as he hugged her, then started away.
Lark stood, squinting at the bright light as the hatch lowered and the five pilots walked side by side to their Gundams waiting just outside, and smiled as they disappeared and the door slammed shut. When she finally pulled herself from the spot, she sprinted to the control room and headed the Yahara Moon to Quarrentine.