Staring across the vast distance of stars, he sighed and leaned back
into the flight seat. The stars had always been a comfort to him. Alone on
their own, yet not alone in the galaxy of stars. Just like him. Alone in
space, on his missions, yet there were always the others, ready and willing
to help if he asked, which he rarely did.
Gazing to his left screen, he saw the Earth approaching. He remembered the first time he had seen it. He was just as awed then as he was now. Quatre was right, it was beautiful.
Carefully adjusting the flight path, he changed the trajectory to make sure he was on course to land on Earth. Soon he would be back.
Relena stared out the window, barely able to see over the mountains of paperwork which had slowly been piling up.
Night was setting in, but she knew there would be no rest for her unless she had sorted out the latest peace treaty she was involved in.
Her thoughts trailed to the others and the Preventers, and wondered how they were doing. It had been six months since the end of the war. Six months since her brother had vanished. And in those six months she had reverted back to Dorlin in remembrance of her adopted father who had worked so hard to create peace between Earth and the Colonies.
A speck of light caught her eye. Turning she saw something shoot across the sky. A shuttle re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, she thought silently to herself. Strange, it wasn't heading the same way as all the others. A meteor, a shooting star perhaps? No this one was different, had a familiar feeling to it.
"Heero," She whispered to the shooting star, "You're back."
Re-entering the atmosphere, he could feel the cabin heat up. Sweat began beading up on his brow as he concentrated on controlling his Gundam. The turbulence was unusually strong so he nearly missed it. Zero began beeping insistently until he looked at the right screen. He gasped as he saw what Zero was trying to show him.
Putting all concerns aside, he changed course.
As soon as the shooting star vanished from sight, Relena sighed and picked up her pen and continued to read through the treaty.
"I'm only seventeen," She mumbled to herself quietly as she rubbed her head to try and ease the onset of a head ache. "I want a normal life. I want to go places, do things I haven't yet had a chance to do."
"Excuse me, Miss Relena?" A softly spoken, familiar voice asked from behind the paperwork mountain. Startled she looked up. She hadn't heard the door open. A blonde haired young man approached, carrying a tray with a plate with a sandwich and a cup.
"Oh Quatre, you're a life saver." She smiled as he carefully placed it on the cabinet to her left.
"Even you need a break every now and again." Quatre Winner smiled as he took a seat in front of her. "So how is everything going?"
"Fine." She said. "This treaty is one of the easiest ones I've had for a long time. Both sides have given demands that accommodate each other."
Staring longingly at the snack Quatre had brought her, she made a snap decision.
"How do you fancy a snack out?"
"That would be nice," Quatre began, pleasantly surprised. "But what about this?"
Relena looked at the paperwork and laughed.
"Even you said I should have a break." Relena grabbed her coat and purse from the stand beside her. "I know a nice restaurant I've been dying to visit."
On reaching the town, he found himself under attack from several Taurus mobile suites following one suite. It looked like a smaller version of his Gundam, with parts taken from the other suits. He fought back.
"Where did you... Why are you here Heero" The pilot of the smaller Wing Zero asked, surprise and apprehension clearly audible. What the hell's happening? Heero thought, as his Gundam was attacked another slightly smaller mobile suite. The fighting style he recognized from six months ago, when he fought with the other pilots against Oz. This was a pilot he knew, and knew well.
"Heero, please, don't fight me." The all too familiar voice pleaded over the intercom.
"Give me one reason why not."
"I... I can't" Came the hesitant reply.
"Then I'll stop you." Heero grunted, as he stood Zero up, and then flew straight towards the other mobile suit.
"Are you alright Quatre?" Relena asked between mouthfuls of her meal. Quatre blinked, realizing he hadn't been paying attention.
"I'm sorry Miss Relena. You were saying?"
"It's just Relena. I was asking how you are. You seemed a bit preoccupied."
Quatre saw the concern in her face and sighed.
"There's nothing wrong, not really." He sipped on his tea, "Except I have this feeling that there is something odd. I'm not sure; I just can't put my finger on it."
The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes, mulling over their conversation, finishing their meal. Quatre wasn't known for imagining things, and most of the times Relena dealt with him, his feelings had been spot on. Relena felt a nagging feeling at the back of her mind. Did this have something to do with the feeling she had that Heero was back?
"I'm sure it's nothing." Relena said, drinking her tea, more to convince herself than Quatre. Quatre, however didn't appear to fully believe her, so she changed the subject. "So, Quatre, what's been happening at your colony? Anything interesting?"
Even with the restless pounding Heero was giving the other pilot; he was surprised that the pilot wasn't showing signs of weakening. This wasn't good.
"Why do you continue fighting me Heero?" The other pilot gasped breathlessly as he retaliated. Then very quietly, almost as an after thought. "The sooner I can finish, the sooner I can stop this."
"There is no future in this course of action." Heero replied, working on a plan of action. "If you continue, there will be no end, no peace..." And Relena's dream will fail, he thought to himself. "Why do you fight?"
"Because I must, if I don't then..." The other pilot's voice broke, emotions betraying his actions. "I'm sorry Heero."
From out of nowhere, the other pilot suddenly gained strength and began to over power Heero with ease. Heero grunted, flying back with the force of the attack, winding himself as his Gundam fell against a stone building. His head smacked into the side screen, his seat restraints barely holding him in his seat. His world began to spin.
"I'm sorry Heero." The other pilot whispered. "Forgive me."
Relena Sighed as she sat back down at her desk. Quatre had gone back home to his Earth home, leaving her to finish some loose ends in the treaty before retiring.
"If I ever see another treaty it'll be too soon." She yawned, rubbing her eyes. "I'm so tired" She said placing her head on the desk, closing her eyes.
A knock on her window woke her. Suddenly awake, she looked around wondering exactly when she had fallen asleep. It was still dark, so she hadn't slept long. The knocking continued again, this time a little more persistent. Cautiously she went to the window, pulled back the curtain and jumped as a shadow stood in front of her. As she opened the French windows, the shadow swayed, before taking a step forward into the light. Relena's breath caught in her throat as she watched Heero stagger into her room, blood running freely from a small cut in his head. "I'm fine," Heero mumbled as Relena guided him gently to a seat. "Sit." She ordered, grabbing a tissue off her desk and dipping it in the small glass of water on her desk and carefully dabbed his cut. Concerned she looked him in the eyes, watching as he tried hard to focus on her. "What happened, Heero?" "Nothing," Heero grunted. She didn't need to know about the problems starting a short distance away, or that a former Gundam pilot was trying to destroy the peace that she was working so hard to create. "Don't lie to me Heero. I haven't seen you for months, and then you turn up here injured." She sighed as she pulled up a chair next to him. "There's trouble, isn't there?"
Gazing to his left screen, he saw the Earth approaching. He remembered the first time he had seen it. He was just as awed then as he was now. Quatre was right, it was beautiful.
Carefully adjusting the flight path, he changed the trajectory to make sure he was on course to land on Earth. Soon he would be back.
Relena stared out the window, barely able to see over the mountains of paperwork which had slowly been piling up.
Night was setting in, but she knew there would be no rest for her unless she had sorted out the latest peace treaty she was involved in.
Her thoughts trailed to the others and the Preventers, and wondered how they were doing. It had been six months since the end of the war. Six months since her brother had vanished. And in those six months she had reverted back to Dorlin in remembrance of her adopted father who had worked so hard to create peace between Earth and the Colonies.
A speck of light caught her eye. Turning she saw something shoot across the sky. A shuttle re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, she thought silently to herself. Strange, it wasn't heading the same way as all the others. A meteor, a shooting star perhaps? No this one was different, had a familiar feeling to it.
"Heero," She whispered to the shooting star, "You're back."
Re-entering the atmosphere, he could feel the cabin heat up. Sweat began beading up on his brow as he concentrated on controlling his Gundam. The turbulence was unusually strong so he nearly missed it. Zero began beeping insistently until he looked at the right screen. He gasped as he saw what Zero was trying to show him.
Putting all concerns aside, he changed course.
As soon as the shooting star vanished from sight, Relena sighed and picked up her pen and continued to read through the treaty.
"I'm only seventeen," She mumbled to herself quietly as she rubbed her head to try and ease the onset of a head ache. "I want a normal life. I want to go places, do things I haven't yet had a chance to do."
"Excuse me, Miss Relena?" A softly spoken, familiar voice asked from behind the paperwork mountain. Startled she looked up. She hadn't heard the door open. A blonde haired young man approached, carrying a tray with a plate with a sandwich and a cup.
"Oh Quatre, you're a life saver." She smiled as he carefully placed it on the cabinet to her left.
"Even you need a break every now and again." Quatre Winner smiled as he took a seat in front of her. "So how is everything going?"
"Fine." She said. "This treaty is one of the easiest ones I've had for a long time. Both sides have given demands that accommodate each other."
Staring longingly at the snack Quatre had brought her, she made a snap decision.
"How do you fancy a snack out?"
"That would be nice," Quatre began, pleasantly surprised. "But what about this?"
Relena looked at the paperwork and laughed.
"Even you said I should have a break." Relena grabbed her coat and purse from the stand beside her. "I know a nice restaurant I've been dying to visit."
On reaching the town, he found himself under attack from several Taurus mobile suites following one suite. It looked like a smaller version of his Gundam, with parts taken from the other suits. He fought back.
"Where did you... Why are you here Heero" The pilot of the smaller Wing Zero asked, surprise and apprehension clearly audible. What the hell's happening? Heero thought, as his Gundam was attacked another slightly smaller mobile suite. The fighting style he recognized from six months ago, when he fought with the other pilots against Oz. This was a pilot he knew, and knew well.
"Heero, please, don't fight me." The all too familiar voice pleaded over the intercom.
"Give me one reason why not."
"I... I can't" Came the hesitant reply.
"Then I'll stop you." Heero grunted, as he stood Zero up, and then flew straight towards the other mobile suit.
"Are you alright Quatre?" Relena asked between mouthfuls of her meal. Quatre blinked, realizing he hadn't been paying attention.
"I'm sorry Miss Relena. You were saying?"
"It's just Relena. I was asking how you are. You seemed a bit preoccupied."
Quatre saw the concern in her face and sighed.
"There's nothing wrong, not really." He sipped on his tea, "Except I have this feeling that there is something odd. I'm not sure; I just can't put my finger on it."
The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes, mulling over their conversation, finishing their meal. Quatre wasn't known for imagining things, and most of the times Relena dealt with him, his feelings had been spot on. Relena felt a nagging feeling at the back of her mind. Did this have something to do with the feeling she had that Heero was back?
"I'm sure it's nothing." Relena said, drinking her tea, more to convince herself than Quatre. Quatre, however didn't appear to fully believe her, so she changed the subject. "So, Quatre, what's been happening at your colony? Anything interesting?"
Even with the restless pounding Heero was giving the other pilot; he was surprised that the pilot wasn't showing signs of weakening. This wasn't good.
"Why do you continue fighting me Heero?" The other pilot gasped breathlessly as he retaliated. Then very quietly, almost as an after thought. "The sooner I can finish, the sooner I can stop this."
"There is no future in this course of action." Heero replied, working on a plan of action. "If you continue, there will be no end, no peace..." And Relena's dream will fail, he thought to himself. "Why do you fight?"
"Because I must, if I don't then..." The other pilot's voice broke, emotions betraying his actions. "I'm sorry Heero."
From out of nowhere, the other pilot suddenly gained strength and began to over power Heero with ease. Heero grunted, flying back with the force of the attack, winding himself as his Gundam fell against a stone building. His head smacked into the side screen, his seat restraints barely holding him in his seat. His world began to spin.
"I'm sorry Heero." The other pilot whispered. "Forgive me."
Relena Sighed as she sat back down at her desk. Quatre had gone back home to his Earth home, leaving her to finish some loose ends in the treaty before retiring.
"If I ever see another treaty it'll be too soon." She yawned, rubbing her eyes. "I'm so tired" She said placing her head on the desk, closing her eyes.
A knock on her window woke her. Suddenly awake, she looked around wondering exactly when she had fallen asleep. It was still dark, so she hadn't slept long. The knocking continued again, this time a little more persistent. Cautiously she went to the window, pulled back the curtain and jumped as a shadow stood in front of her. As she opened the French windows, the shadow swayed, before taking a step forward into the light. Relena's breath caught in her throat as she watched Heero stagger into her room, blood running freely from a small cut in his head. "I'm fine," Heero mumbled as Relena guided him gently to a seat. "Sit." She ordered, grabbing a tissue off her desk and dipping it in the small glass of water on her desk and carefully dabbed his cut. Concerned she looked him in the eyes, watching as he tried hard to focus on her. "What happened, Heero?" "Nothing," Heero grunted. She didn't need to know about the problems starting a short distance away, or that a former Gundam pilot was trying to destroy the peace that she was working so hard to create. "Don't lie to me Heero. I haven't seen you for months, and then you turn up here injured." She sighed as she pulled up a chair next to him. "There's trouble, isn't there?"