Disclaimer: Do I have to say it again? I don't own Gundam Wing.

When Light Dies

Chapter 2

A.C.180

So I kept the kid alive; I took him with me on my journey to Colony L1-X17001, where an old acquaintance awaited for my arrival. Not once did he cry again since I found him underneath the rubbles, not even when he was hungry or hurt. He just lay in my arms enjoying the warmth given off by my cold body. He probably thought that I was his father by the calmness he had shown. I fed him whatever food I could find as long as they were edible, breaking them into tiny pieces and forced them down his throat whether he liked it or not. He needed to be alive; I owed him that much since I was responsible for the deaths of his parents. They were lucky, his parents were of course. They escaped their fate by grabbing the opportunity I presented to them. The kid didn't, he chose not to take my present and that was why I had to keep him alive. At least until he too meets his fate.

I sank into the seat on the shuttle after situating the kid on my left against the window. Children always loved window seats, I assumed. Finally, the both of us could get some rest after two days of hitch hiking. I was well aware that the kid was not used to traveling, but I never stopped to find a local inn en route. He needed his first lesson of survival: able to adapt to any environment. I shut my exhausted eye lids as sleep overtook my senses.

" Nice little boy you've got there." A soft feminine voice pulled me out of my ephemeral slumber. " Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." It was the lady with long wavy chestnut hair sitting on my right.

" It's fine." I nodded at her hoping she would just leave me alone now.

" How did you do it? He is just so quiet." She didn't catch my silent request. " You've got to tell me how your son behaves so well. You should've seen my boy. He's about the same age as yours, but he wouldn't be quiet for one second." Apparently she mistook me as the kid's father.

Not wanting to cause any trouble, I acted according to her assumption wishing she wouldn't see through my cover. " He's always like that. He just doesn't cry as often as the other kids." I started making stupid out of this world stories about my "son", and how we came to be at the present situation. I lied to her that after my "wife" died, I decided to take the kid to his grandparents on L1 so I could go find a job supporting him. The story almost brought the lady to tears. Her sympathy as a new mother blinded her perception to see the truth that I was merely a fraud. She was too gullible, too kind. She should never trust the words of a stranger, let alone the words of a killer.

" Wait, I have something..." She trailed off and dug her hands into her traveling bag searching for the " something". " Here," She handed me a forest green infant blanket. " I bought this for my son, but I think this little guy here should have it. That old blue rug of his won't last very long."

I thanked her and she went on blabbering about her family matters, her husband, and her son. I could only stare at her and act as if I were actually listening. Her kindness even brought her to the point of inviting me to meet her family at the space port when the shuttle landed.

" I think my husband would be glad to meet you. Believe me, he could barely keep himself alive when I was away for the past few days. I think he should learn some tips at being a single father, if it were for just a few days." She smiled at me then at the kid sleeping nearby. I envied the kid, for he was able to rest during this whole entire ordeal.

I complied to her request.

" It won't be long, since we have to catch the next shuttle to L2. That's where we actually live." She paused leaning in toward the kid. " He's a beautiful little boy."

I didn't comment on her remark; I simply didn't care. All I wanted was a little peace and quiet but unfortunately, it was impossible with this lady here. I began to dread our arrival, for I knew that her family would be just the same as her. Obnoxious.

The time finally came and there was no escape.

" Hey, look!" She pointed into the crowd at the space port. I followed her hand and saw a man in his early thirties holding an infant in his right arm while waving at the lady beside me with his left hand. He seemed very kind.

" Come on. Let's go." She tugged the sleeve of my jacket. I complied not wanting to blow away my cover.

" Hey, sweety. Did you miss your mommy?" She dropped her luggage and opened her arms as her husband handed their son to her for an embrace. I watched in silence.

" Honey, " She called for her husband's attention. " This is Mr...oh my...I didn't even ask..."

" Odin." I stepped in. " You can call me Odin." I shifted the Kid around, so I could extend my right hand for a hand shake. " Nice to meet you."

" Nice to meet you too. " He shook my hand. " I'm Mike. I see you've already met my wife Julia."

Julia cut in with her child in her arms and began telling her husband my " story ", of course it was just a shorter version of mine, since they had a flight to catch. Amidst her once again blabbering, I took a glance at the boy she had against her bosom. I was stunned to see that this little boy had the same eyes as the Kid, save they were violet like his father's. He also shared his mother's chestnut hair although it was hard to tell with the few thread of hair on his head. I always knew that children looked alike in their infant stage, but the expression on both of them were identical except one of them lacked the sadness in his eyes, in his violet eyes. He'll never know what sadness is; he'll never suffer like the Kid. How very sad that he'll be happy for the rest of his life with loving parents always at his side.

" Here, " She held out her child closer to me. " Meet my little precious, his name is-"

" Odin!" She was interrupted by a voice behind us. It was that old acquaintance of mine. " Odin Lowe!" He called out my name once more while closing the distance between us.

" I'm sorry." I apologized to the couple standing beside me. " My ride is here. It was nice to meet you guys. " I was determined to get away from these kind people. They were too kind that it made me feel sick.

" Well, then, you better go." She sounded disappointed. I ignored her comment and walked away toward my ride. She called out loud again saying her farewell to me. I never replied. After all, we were only passing strangers. I shall never see them again.

" So, I see that you are doing quite well, Lowe." My forty-year old friend greeted me. His height average, hair russet but a few grays sticking out, and his attire was always casual. He was not the strongest guy I know, but the smartest. The brain behind everything.

" Same to you, Howard." I returned the gesture. Howard was a friend that I met a few years ago while working on that last job of mine. He was then a weaponry dealer in the black market and had made quite a name for himself by selling some of the most useful technical gadgets in this solar system. He once told me that he owed all his successes to a friend of his who had built almost everything he ever sold. I myself had a few chances to acquire his weaponry on a couple of my missions; they were just simply exquisite machines an assassin could ever hope to get his hands on. However, that was nearly five years ago.

" Lowe," He questioned me. " The last time I saw you, you were still single. Where did this little guy come from? He couldn't be yours, could he?"

" I killed his parents." I stated the fact.

" Ah, I see. Paying some debts. " He glanced at the boy with his brown eyes. " It's a good thing sometimes."

" Maybe."

" Now, let's not waste anymore time here. Let's go, the drive won't take us ten minutes."

Howard took me and the kid to his home, his base actually. It was an underground warehouse or something like it. People inside there were mostly young mechanics in those regular dirty greasy blue jumpsuits, but all of them carried a gun or two. The women too had a few weapons down their sleeves. It was rather fascinating to see how armed and alert these people were. I held the Kid and followed Howard to his office at the end of some inconspicuous hallway located at the lowest level of this underground compound. His office was just as discreet as the hallway outside. A desk, a torn couch, a vidscreen and a couple of chairs. It was nonetheless clean. We situated ourselves each in a chair and I laid the kid on the couch.

" You should know why I'm here." I spoke in a low voice.

" Of course. " Howard stared at me then turned on the vidscreen putting on a local news channel. " You are here to warn me. They've contacted you to kill me, right?"

" They are after you." I stated the obvious.

" Now, they are after you too." He wasn't worried a bit. " You've seen the base, we are on the highest alert here. There is nothing else I could do."

" I know, but I'm also here to help and to earn some food to stay alive."

" But you should know that this is nothing like being an assassin. We have a goal to accomplish."

" I know that, but I also have my own reasons to why I want to help you other than food."

" Oh? and what is that?"

" I can't tell you that, not just yet."

" ...and in other news today the Cinq Kingdom has officially denounced its allegiance to the Earth Alliance, condemning the organization initiating unwanted violence against the colonies..."

The news caught both of our attention to the screen, cutting off our current conversation.

" The Cinq Kingdom?" It sounded quite familiar to me.

" Yes, the Cinq Kingdom. The same country that was mentioned by the former President Heero Yuy in his last speech before he was assassinated." Howard cleared his dried throat. " Heero Yuy had a very close tie with that Kingdom, although on what foundation we do not know."

Now, I remember. Before I pulled that trigger, I heard him say something about total pacifism and linking it to that particular country.

" I see that not all of the earth support war against the colonies." Howard sighed.

" That country is not going to last long standing alone on this issue." I predicted. " The Cinq Kingdom -"

I was interrupted by the cries of the kid. It almost surprised me to hear him cry after such a long time of silence. I guess he is just a kid after all.

" Are you going to do something about that?" Howard asked me with a hint of irritation behind his hoarse voice.

" He'll stop. He doesn't cry very much. I haven't heard anything from him since the day I found him." I reassured him, but the cries got louder and uncontrollable.

" You know that kids will stop crying if they have something to play with to keep them distracted." Howard offered me some advice.

" Fine." I replied pulling out my gun from the inside of my jacket. I put the safety on and took out all the bullets. " Here." I dropped the weapon in the Kid's hands that were outside of his new green blanket.

" You are giving him a gun to play with?" Howard stared at me wide eyed.

" I don't see you got any toy around this place, do you?" My tone was sarcastic. " It'll be fine, he'll stop crying in a second." As if on cue, the kid's cries died down and he began playing with his new "toy".

" I think he rather likes it." I chuckled then turned to Howard. " Anyway, as I was saying. The Cinq Kingdom will eventually go back on its ideal or be destroyed by the Alliance. It won't last, I give it at most two years. Just you see, after two years, they are going to fall."

The kid cried again, and this time it was louder and more sorrowful.

Author's note: Please excuse any grammatical mistakes in this story. I hope you guys are catching all the little details I've thrown in there. A couple of hints: The violet eyed child who lives on L2. The KID cries at the mention of the Cinq Kingdom. More little details to come in the next chapter. Everything is linked in this story in someway, so watch out for them.