I do not own gundam wing. I also do not own the song "Hotel California." It is copyrighted to the Eagles.

This chapter is sort of a song chapter.

Courage is not the same as being brave. Bravery can be achieved by a fool, but courage, well…courage goes even deeper. Courage is being so scared you could shit your pants, but you get up and do your job anyways.

            Relena was very grateful that the man who had sold her this car for so cheap was a fool. Normally she would never have taken advantage of anyone, but in this case she had no choice. The middle-aged man with greasy hair and about six underfed children looked like he needed the 700 dollars he had sold her the car for. He didn't even I.D. her. She sighed and reached over to turn the radio on.

 "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light."

Where am I going to go? Relena had no idea what to do from here on out. She was scared, alone, and she was never turning back.

 
 "My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night."

            What will I do now? She really had no idea. Right then she looked up and saw a mileage sign stating the town of Tyler was about ½ a mile away. How long had she been driving?

 "There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
and I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'"

            Tyler huh? Sounded good to her. Whither it was a small town or not. It was good as any place to hide tonight. She took exit 49 towards the town.

 "Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
there were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say..."

            Suddenly it started pouring rain. She couldn't even see two feet in front of her and her wipers were on high. "Well shit," she thought. She started driving very slowly.

 "Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
such a lovely face"

Relena was lost. When she had gotten the off the exit ramp, there had been a fork in the road. She was pretty sure that to go to the town of Tyler, you had to take the left fork, but she couldn't remember which side she had taken.

 "Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here."

 "Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget."

            Suddenly Relena herd a lout bang on the passenger side of her car that sounded nothing like thunder. "Not now!" she thought. Suddenly she saw lights ahead.

 "So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine'
He said,'We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say..."

            She coasted her second hand car towards the lights, her only beacon of hope. When she pulled up…she saw what appeared to be a log cabin. Either this was her miracle or this was her death.

 "Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis."

            She banged on the door, letting the rain pour down on her. Nothing happened. She banged again harder this time. "Please someone! Can you help me? Is there anybody here?" Of course the loud howling wind carried her voice away so no one heard her. She was desperate. She banged even harder and louder this time. No one answered, so she gave up and turned to walk back to her car.

 "Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast ."

As she turned, she thought she heard what seemed to be the door opening but it was hard to tell with the sound of the rain pounding down. She turned around to check…hoping. And there in the doorway, was the most indescribable man in the world. She had hoped to ask for some aid with her car, but she couldn't seem to get the words out of her clogged up throat. "Those eyes…"

 "Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,'said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!"

She realized she was staring, and was about to apologize when he spoke first. But it wasn't what she expected.

"Who the hell are you?"

sakurachikara