DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belonged to Sunrise and co. I'm not making any
profits out of this, so don't sue. Oh, those you think you've never heard
before belong to me. And feedback is very welcome, people!?
TIMELINE: The story takes place after Survival of the Fittest, I'd say almost two years.
SHATTERED MIRRORS III: ENEMIES.
By Arayelle Lynn.
The silence in the room was so thick that it could be sliced with a knife. As soon as Duo and Rasid arrived at the Preventer headquarters, they were greeted by the grim faces of their friends. Each relayed what they've learned so far but none seemed to be able to answer the numero uno question.
Why Quatre had turned against them?
At first, Relena, Trowa and the others were inclined to accept Duo's earlier hypothesis. That someone was puppeting Quatre into committing treachery against the ESUN. But the presence of the Winner daughters, safe and sound, and their statement as well as the Maganac's forced them to rethink the hypothesis.
"We don't know what really happened. Quatre just threw us into the street," Erea Winner had said earlier, her face lined with worry as well as hurt. "He didn't say anything hurtful. He just ordered his bodyguards to 'escort' us off the colony."
"And he fired all of us without any reason," the still-shocked Abdul said. He too, felt a little betrayed.
"And Quatre wasn't acting strange before that?" Wu Fei had asked, watching them carefully. He turned to Trowa. "Are you sure that Quatre never give out any indication that he might do this?" His words were directed to all closest to the Winner's heir.
Trowa shook his head. "I never saw or contact Quatre after I left the colony," he had answered, thinking of the secret, personal mission he had been in. "And I doubt it has anything to do with him seeing Kylie that day." He looked at Duo for confirmation.
"He's right," Irin Winner interjected. "Quatre was himself after that. In fact, he almost returned to his usual self. No, this wasn't about her. Something's terribly wrong here."
Lady Une frowned, deep in thought. Then, she called up one of her agents and told him to escort the Winners to their temporary quarters. She waited until they were all gone before addressing the remaining people. "From the statements I've heard, it seems that there was nothing that could cause Quatre's defection. It seems more logical to say that he's doing everything willingly." She sighed. "I don't want to say this in front of the other Winners but it seems that Quatre has just become an enemy."
Silence ruled the room. And that had been a while ago. Now, the silence was almost deafening.
"It seems that way," Zechs agreed, finally shattering the long silence. "That means, we will have to consider him an enemy from now on." He closed his eyes. "Which is bad. He is, after all, a Gundam soldier."
"Now, just wait a minute," Duo cut in, breaking away from Hilde's reassuring hold. "Let's not be too hasty. There's still this question of why Quatre defected in the first place. I say we give some time to find out what before starting to blow one of our own to space dust."
Zechs turned to Trowa and Wu Fei. "Is this a normal reaction of a Gundam pilot?" he prompted. "Do you people always hastily destroyed those who you think would endanger the peace but when it comes to one of your own, you hesitate?" he challenged.
Wu Fei didn't take a second to answer that. "No." Duo looked up to protest. "Our job is to protect the peace. That's an oath we Gundam pilots took at the end of the Eve War. If one of us breaks it, it becomes our utmost responsible to stop him." He then remembered the time when Heero was determined to destroy him for supporting the Mariemaia's Army.
He then looked at Duo. "And I mean what I said. Quatre Winner has become an enemy," he said. "You know I will kill him. And if Heero was here, he would've said the same thing too."
"But."
Trowa interrupted Duo. "You're right," he said with a hint of reluctance. "We have no choice but to consider Quatre as an enemy."
Duo looked at him, then Wu Fei and finally Zechs. "You can't be serious!" he began but then he relented, after some serious thoughts. "You guys are right. Guess we have no choice in this matter."
"What?" they heard both Relena and Noin said, shocked. "But why? Quatre's your friend, remember? Your leader," Relena reminded them. She was still hoping to come out with a reason as well as a solution.
Duo shook his head. "Not anymore. Not when he broke his oath to protect the peace."
"But if we could just contact him and persuade him," Relena tried again.
"It won't help, Miss Relena," said Rasid, after being silent for some time. "He has tried to destroy Duo once." He paused, thinking over what he had to say. "In my book, those who betrayed a friend should be considered an enemy. And Master Winner has crossed that line when he trained his weapons at Duo."
The leader of the Maganac then turned to the rest of the Gundam pilots. "Though we pledged our lives for Master Quatre, he freed us from it by firing us. And since there are only three original Gundam pilots left, we the Maganacs would be honored to fight by your side in this conflict." He looked at his men, who nodded. "We're determined to sacrifice our lives for the peace that Master Quatre had once fought for."
Wu Fei nodded, seemingly acting as a leader of the Gundams. "We accept."
Lady Une leaned back, considering the situation. "What you're offering is noble, Maganacs but there is still one thing we can do while we wait for Winteridge and Quatre to launch their attack on the Earth Sphere."
"Hmm. what's that?"
"Find out why all these are happening."
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
They waited for what seemed like forever. When they finally heard the sound of footsteps, Dorothy felt the muscles in Trowa's arm tense. He pushed her even further into the darkness as they held their breaths, thinking even breathing could give away their location.
The footsteps lingered around, searching for their preys. Then, after a few heart-stopping seconds, the footsteps faded, indicating that their hunters were leaving. Dorothy then felt Trowa squeezed her arm, and somehow she understood that he was telling her not to make a single move. After waiting for quite some time, she felt his muscle relaxed as he released her.
She breathed a sigh of relief and slid down onto the floor. All the while, the painful throbbing in her right ankle grew even more unbearable. Involuntarily, a moan escaped her lips and her savior knelt before her, cradling the ankle with a gentleness that Dorothy never thought possible coming from him.
"Don't move," he said, his voice soft. She watched him examined the now-swollen ankle, delicately. "It's not broken, just sprained," he diagnosed. Then, he ripped the sleeve of his shirt. Green eyes met blue ones. "This will hurt a bit."
She gritted her teeth as Trowa started to bind the swell. But to her surprise, he was delicate enough that Dorothy hardly felt any pain. Time seemed to stop and silence ruled over them as Trowa worked on her ankle while she watched.
"Did you know that that was Heero?" she asked, quietly. The tranquility of the environment were smothered by the grim fact.
Instead of answering, Trowa kept his silence. She took it as a yes.
"What's he doing trying to kill Miss Relena? I thought he protects her."
Still no answer.
But something told Dorothy that even the Gundam pilot hadn't all the answers.
He continued binding her ankle.
"That was mighty brave of you." This time, it was Trowa who broke the silence. "Drawing Heero to you like that. You could've gone for help but you did not," he said. There's a hint of admire in his voice. "He could've killed you, you must've realized that."
She shuddered, the frightening experience finally dawned on her. Yes, she could've been killed. Heero's the most skillful assassin around. "It seems like a good idea at the time," she replied, defending her actions. "I can't let them kill the Vice Foreign Minister, can I?"
"Right," Trowa agreed, a ghost of a smile played across his lips.
Then he stood up. He checked the surrounding first before extending his hand to her, helping her up. Dorothy dusted herself as they stepped back into the alley. "We're safe now," Trowa declared, his eyes watching every shadows in every corner.
He turned to her. "You should be able to make it back on your own safely," he stated, starting to move away.
"Wait!" Dorothy grabbed his arm. She almost felt Trowa flinched, or so she thought. "Where are you going? What's happening to Quatre?" she asked, pleadingly. She didn't want to be left alone especially after what just happened.
But her questions put the grim mask back on the Gundam pilot's face. He felt him tensed and his jaw twitched. He looked at her with his steel, hard eyes, which had seen many battles. "That's what I'm trying to find out," he said, his voice was suddenly gruff.
Then, he broke away from her grasp. A few seconds later, Dorothy was all alone.
TO BE CONTINUED.
TIMELINE: The story takes place after Survival of the Fittest, I'd say almost two years.
SHATTERED MIRRORS III: ENEMIES.
By Arayelle Lynn.
The silence in the room was so thick that it could be sliced with a knife. As soon as Duo and Rasid arrived at the Preventer headquarters, they were greeted by the grim faces of their friends. Each relayed what they've learned so far but none seemed to be able to answer the numero uno question.
Why Quatre had turned against them?
At first, Relena, Trowa and the others were inclined to accept Duo's earlier hypothesis. That someone was puppeting Quatre into committing treachery against the ESUN. But the presence of the Winner daughters, safe and sound, and their statement as well as the Maganac's forced them to rethink the hypothesis.
"We don't know what really happened. Quatre just threw us into the street," Erea Winner had said earlier, her face lined with worry as well as hurt. "He didn't say anything hurtful. He just ordered his bodyguards to 'escort' us off the colony."
"And he fired all of us without any reason," the still-shocked Abdul said. He too, felt a little betrayed.
"And Quatre wasn't acting strange before that?" Wu Fei had asked, watching them carefully. He turned to Trowa. "Are you sure that Quatre never give out any indication that he might do this?" His words were directed to all closest to the Winner's heir.
Trowa shook his head. "I never saw or contact Quatre after I left the colony," he had answered, thinking of the secret, personal mission he had been in. "And I doubt it has anything to do with him seeing Kylie that day." He looked at Duo for confirmation.
"He's right," Irin Winner interjected. "Quatre was himself after that. In fact, he almost returned to his usual self. No, this wasn't about her. Something's terribly wrong here."
Lady Une frowned, deep in thought. Then, she called up one of her agents and told him to escort the Winners to their temporary quarters. She waited until they were all gone before addressing the remaining people. "From the statements I've heard, it seems that there was nothing that could cause Quatre's defection. It seems more logical to say that he's doing everything willingly." She sighed. "I don't want to say this in front of the other Winners but it seems that Quatre has just become an enemy."
Silence ruled the room. And that had been a while ago. Now, the silence was almost deafening.
"It seems that way," Zechs agreed, finally shattering the long silence. "That means, we will have to consider him an enemy from now on." He closed his eyes. "Which is bad. He is, after all, a Gundam soldier."
"Now, just wait a minute," Duo cut in, breaking away from Hilde's reassuring hold. "Let's not be too hasty. There's still this question of why Quatre defected in the first place. I say we give some time to find out what before starting to blow one of our own to space dust."
Zechs turned to Trowa and Wu Fei. "Is this a normal reaction of a Gundam pilot?" he prompted. "Do you people always hastily destroyed those who you think would endanger the peace but when it comes to one of your own, you hesitate?" he challenged.
Wu Fei didn't take a second to answer that. "No." Duo looked up to protest. "Our job is to protect the peace. That's an oath we Gundam pilots took at the end of the Eve War. If one of us breaks it, it becomes our utmost responsible to stop him." He then remembered the time when Heero was determined to destroy him for supporting the Mariemaia's Army.
He then looked at Duo. "And I mean what I said. Quatre Winner has become an enemy," he said. "You know I will kill him. And if Heero was here, he would've said the same thing too."
"But."
Trowa interrupted Duo. "You're right," he said with a hint of reluctance. "We have no choice but to consider Quatre as an enemy."
Duo looked at him, then Wu Fei and finally Zechs. "You can't be serious!" he began but then he relented, after some serious thoughts. "You guys are right. Guess we have no choice in this matter."
"What?" they heard both Relena and Noin said, shocked. "But why? Quatre's your friend, remember? Your leader," Relena reminded them. She was still hoping to come out with a reason as well as a solution.
Duo shook his head. "Not anymore. Not when he broke his oath to protect the peace."
"But if we could just contact him and persuade him," Relena tried again.
"It won't help, Miss Relena," said Rasid, after being silent for some time. "He has tried to destroy Duo once." He paused, thinking over what he had to say. "In my book, those who betrayed a friend should be considered an enemy. And Master Winner has crossed that line when he trained his weapons at Duo."
The leader of the Maganac then turned to the rest of the Gundam pilots. "Though we pledged our lives for Master Quatre, he freed us from it by firing us. And since there are only three original Gundam pilots left, we the Maganacs would be honored to fight by your side in this conflict." He looked at his men, who nodded. "We're determined to sacrifice our lives for the peace that Master Quatre had once fought for."
Wu Fei nodded, seemingly acting as a leader of the Gundams. "We accept."
Lady Une leaned back, considering the situation. "What you're offering is noble, Maganacs but there is still one thing we can do while we wait for Winteridge and Quatre to launch their attack on the Earth Sphere."
"Hmm. what's that?"
"Find out why all these are happening."
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
They waited for what seemed like forever. When they finally heard the sound of footsteps, Dorothy felt the muscles in Trowa's arm tense. He pushed her even further into the darkness as they held their breaths, thinking even breathing could give away their location.
The footsteps lingered around, searching for their preys. Then, after a few heart-stopping seconds, the footsteps faded, indicating that their hunters were leaving. Dorothy then felt Trowa squeezed her arm, and somehow she understood that he was telling her not to make a single move. After waiting for quite some time, she felt his muscle relaxed as he released her.
She breathed a sigh of relief and slid down onto the floor. All the while, the painful throbbing in her right ankle grew even more unbearable. Involuntarily, a moan escaped her lips and her savior knelt before her, cradling the ankle with a gentleness that Dorothy never thought possible coming from him.
"Don't move," he said, his voice soft. She watched him examined the now-swollen ankle, delicately. "It's not broken, just sprained," he diagnosed. Then, he ripped the sleeve of his shirt. Green eyes met blue ones. "This will hurt a bit."
She gritted her teeth as Trowa started to bind the swell. But to her surprise, he was delicate enough that Dorothy hardly felt any pain. Time seemed to stop and silence ruled over them as Trowa worked on her ankle while she watched.
"Did you know that that was Heero?" she asked, quietly. The tranquility of the environment were smothered by the grim fact.
Instead of answering, Trowa kept his silence. She took it as a yes.
"What's he doing trying to kill Miss Relena? I thought he protects her."
Still no answer.
But something told Dorothy that even the Gundam pilot hadn't all the answers.
He continued binding her ankle.
"That was mighty brave of you." This time, it was Trowa who broke the silence. "Drawing Heero to you like that. You could've gone for help but you did not," he said. There's a hint of admire in his voice. "He could've killed you, you must've realized that."
She shuddered, the frightening experience finally dawned on her. Yes, she could've been killed. Heero's the most skillful assassin around. "It seems like a good idea at the time," she replied, defending her actions. "I can't let them kill the Vice Foreign Minister, can I?"
"Right," Trowa agreed, a ghost of a smile played across his lips.
Then he stood up. He checked the surrounding first before extending his hand to her, helping her up. Dorothy dusted herself as they stepped back into the alley. "We're safe now," Trowa declared, his eyes watching every shadows in every corner.
He turned to her. "You should be able to make it back on your own safely," he stated, starting to move away.
"Wait!" Dorothy grabbed his arm. She almost felt Trowa flinched, or so she thought. "Where are you going? What's happening to Quatre?" she asked, pleadingly. She didn't want to be left alone especially after what just happened.
But her questions put the grim mask back on the Gundam pilot's face. He felt him tensed and his jaw twitched. He looked at her with his steel, hard eyes, which had seen many battles. "That's what I'm trying to find out," he said, his voice was suddenly gruff.
Then, he broke away from her grasp. A few seconds later, Dorothy was all alone.
TO BE CONTINUED.