30 (Epilogue II): You are not alone
(Disclaimer: Yubiwa lyrics belongs to Bandai Entertainment/Sakamoto Maaya)
As my tears keep overflowing
I can't see your last smile through the blur
Don't go! Don't go! Stay with me
Light breaks through the sky
I'm so insignificant but
I loved you with all my soul, more than anyone
Thank you for all of the
Precious feelings
That you gave to me
"At that time I just
Watched for ages as the vapor trail vanished,"
Don't forget
You're not alone
Even if we part, our hands are still linked
It was my first love, when I first
Learned of sadness like this
(Sanc Kingdom):
Jin could feel himself trembling underneath the heavy covers, he was dreaming the part of him that was awake knew that much. He was trapped in some horrible nightmare he was unaware of having and he couldn't wake up, his mouth wouldn't oblige to his command to open and cry out for help and his arms were wrapped around him. Jin knew that wasn't right; Relena was supposed to be here with him keeping him safe!
His eyes moved about underneath his eyelids attempting to open themselves in a way to claw his way out of the hellish nightmare he fell into. The young Korean's arms thrashed around him uncontrollably while his legs kicked furiously underneath the covers, until he managed to throw him off his body. His onyx blue eyes shot open the moment his back arched and his body threw itself into a upright position. He stared through his tangled mess of hair at the bedroom lit by the mid-afternoon gray sky light, Jin's breathing was hard and ragged as he placed his head between his head to quail the uneasy in his stomach.
"Okassan...?" He moaned clutching his stomach. There was no response like always. Groaning he lifted his heavy head up from between his legs swallowing roughly the vomiting sensation forming in his throat, turning to the right he laid his hands on the edge of the bed and pulled himself off. He grunted at the led-like weight his body had taken on when he hit the ground, he welcomed the cold carpet ground beneath him pushing the once pressing matter of vomiting in the bathroom aside. Jin could feel his body temperature lowering as the draft from the bottom of the bedroom door danced over his sweaty body, Jin propped his head onto his forearm and closed his eyes again.
Elsewhere Inside the dining room at the table, Relena rubbed her eyes tiredly looking over the final paragraph of her speech all the more thankful she was finally finished. She had read the rough draft of her speech and completed it in two days, which was as much of a surprise to her as it was to Pegan. He commented that it only took her an hour or so to read the rough draft of her speeches and rewrite their final version in little over an hour and Fifteen minutes, Relena just smiled bashfully at his comment.
Paying no mind to the maid that reached over her taking her empty glasses that once held water, the 17-year-old shifted her eyes towards ceiling upon hearing a loud crash above her. Ever since she had left the bedroom to look over her speech Jin had yet to wake from his sleeping state, Relena had cheeked on him twice in one day, he didn't even respond slightly when she moved him from his side onto his back. Relena found herself remembering how panicked she was when she checked up on him an hour earlier before heading down to the dinning room to read the final version of her speech. His pulse was erratic one minute and calm the next. It was nothing like she had seen before.
The young woman rose from her seat, and headed out of the dinning, she straightened out her blouse and plaid skirt upon entering the living room. The sight of the couch was welcoming and as much as she wanted to, Relena couldn't will herself to go to sleep until she checked on Jin again. She approached the stairs, there was a scream that caused Relena's heart to stop for just a moment. She remained frozen where she was until she heard the scream and where it had come from, the girl ran upstairs as fast as her could carry her. The European 17-year-old dashed past Pegan as he stepped out a bedroom. "Relena, what's the matter!" He cried worriedly.
Relena grasped the door knob and threw the door widen open, there she found Jin on the floor thrashing about like a caged animal. "Pegan go and get the medicine!" She cried dropping down to the floor. Pegan left the scene in a hurry leaving Relena to deal with the enraged boy herself. Swallowing Relena grabbed his swinging arms in mid-hair pulling him up against her legs, Jin appeared to be sobbing now that she had him in her grasp. His screaming had stopped (he continued to cry) and now he was clinging to her like the lost child he was, repeating incoherent Korean phrases into her chest. Relena ran her hand down his back ignoring the sweaty feeling on her fingers as it soaked through his undershirt, Jin's crying soon ceased altogether. The two of them were left in silence for a fleeting moment before Pegan returned panting. "Miss Relena, I have the medicine," He announced tiredly.
Relena looked over her shoulder with a thankful smile, she extended her hand and Pegan placed the two bottles in her hand. "Thank you Pegan," She whispered. Pegan simply nodded, the weary look on his face still evident. Sighing heavily the young woman looked down at the somewhat composed body Jin and pondered on whether giving him the medicine now was the best thing to do now that he was calm. She stared at him with intent eyes she noticed his body was trembling along with his uneasy breathing, his body was burning up and... he had to be in the bed.
Groaning the 17-year-old positioned one underneath Jin's bottom and the other against his back. She then lifted herself and his body off the ground proceeding to walk towards the bed, Jin's arms hung limp on his sides as she approached the bed. He made not one single move in which caused worry in Relena, she paid him down onto the bed gently peering over at his bandaged torso. It was faintly red much like it was the last time she came in to check on him, no cause for concern. Removing her arm from underneath his neck Relena reached over and grasped both his legs, of course this time Jin moved, Relena felt his legs remove themselves from her grasp and his chest heaving. Taking a closer look Relena realized that Jin's eyes were clamped shut and his mouth was moving but nothing was coming out.
Jin soon began to thrash much like he did when he was on the floor, Relena jumped back when his arm came waving out at her at a tremendous speed. She stumbled backwards losing her footing. "Miss Relena...!" Pegan cried rushing to his master's aid. He caught the young woman just in time, Relena however was unaware of this, with wavering eyes she watched as the young man repeated the same wild motions upon the bed. Tears fell rapidly down his face crying for what sounded like 'mommy' and 'daddy' in Japanese. "I'm fine Pegan," Relena whispered calmly standing on her feet. Pegan released her from his grasp, he watched her approach the bed with weary eyes underneath his thick eyebrows. There was no telling what could happen if... no Pegan couldn't allow himself to think like that. Relena kept herself out of harms way continuing to monitor Jin's nightmare enduced behavior.
He must've been sleep the entire time I held him... Relena thought reaching over to grasp his shoulders. When her fingers brushed against the edge of his shoulder Jin was sent jolting into an upright position screaming, Relena gasped in horror when Jin pulled himself into a sitting position on his knees and grabbed her by the neck; she was jerked down to his level and watched helplessly as his fist came rushing to her face. "Jin, don't!" She cried. Jin's eyes widened upon hearing the older woman's voice his fist paused mere inches in front of her face, he blinked staring at the quivering woman in his grasp before he released her. Relena began to cough roughly while Jin simply laid down on his injured side curling himself up into a ball, his entire body trembled with the fear and realization of what he could've done to the very woman trying to help him.
"Miss Relena are you alright!" Pegan cried worriedly kneeling down to Relena's level. The young woman coughed for a final time nodding vigorously as she climbed to her shaky feet, swallowing roughly she approached the bed. Jin felt her weight upon it; this caused his body to shake far more violently. "Jin--- what happened? Are you alright?" Relena rasped placing a hand on his forearm. Why, why was she asking him these questions? He almost hurt her and she was asking if he was alright. The character of this woman was puzzling him by the minute.
"I can't remember...," He whispered weakly holding himself even tighter. "I feel so cold... I'm cold... that's all..." Relena scooted over to him she pulled him off of his side and into her comforting arms, he stiffened against her warm body, her fingers ran through his hair bringing up a foggy memory of someone holding him in this same way repeating everything Relena was doing to him. However, the mind numbing child did not leave him he still felt separate from Relena. Relena could feel Jin's muscles relaxing as well as herself, shifting her head towards Pegan she asked if he could bring cups of water up for the two of them, the elderly man nodded and left the room. Relena exhaled heavily.
Normally when someone told anyone that they couldn't remember it was just a way of getting that person off their back because they didn't want to talk about it, but from uneasy tone in Jin's voice there was no denying that there was a possibility that he couldn't remember. Suspicion wouldn't help her get through to him, if ever. Swallowing she ceased running her hands through his thick mess of hair causing Jin pull away from her leaving no room for objection, he stared at her with bloodshot onyx blue eyes trying to get a hold of nerves when the same deathly cold feeling overcame him. He hugged his sides once again doubling over in pain, incoherent voices speaking to him all at once, his head was throbbing with the strength of an electric shock and for a moment he actually felt as though he were dying.
He could barely hear Relena calling out to him as he curled himself into an even tighter ball. Relena was unsure what to do, here laid the little boy she thought could help but had no way of reaching him, she pulled him out of his fetal position. Jin threw himself backward but Relena managed to catch him before he could. Relena's eyes were as large as marbles she watched helplessly as Jin's face contorted with pain and he let out a strangled cry, the European girl found herself reliving the moment at the abandoned Alliance base; Jin was having a similar attack like the one he had there after shooting Margaret. "Jin! Jin what's happening to you?" Relena cried desperately. Jin's pupils began to dilate the world around him engulfed in darkness. He became deaf to any and all things that called out to him save the voices scream all at once at him, what indeed was happening to him? His head slowly turned to the side, he vomited a fair amount of blood before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went limp against Relena.
"Oh God... this can't be happening... Yukari said he was fine...!" Pegan stepped inside the room with haste, he had heard the commotion as he made his way up the stairs and wasted no time getting back to the bedroom. He dropped the glasses of water at the sight of blood on Relena's knee and wrist. "Pegan don't ask, just call an ambulance please!" She whispered hoarsely. "Right away Miss Relena!" Pegan cried leaving the bedroom once more. Relena shivered inwardly at the sound of Jin's labored breathing, the twitch of his bottom lip with each painful intake of breath Her chest heaved in and out at a quick pace as a thought befell her; I can stop wars, but I can even help one single boy? "There was nothing you could've done for him...," The voice startled Relena causing her to avert her head towards the front door. Leaning on the door way, Heero Yuy stared at her with his prussian blue eyes, hardened in their resolve, his face shadowed by the darkness that did not spread to the middle of the bedroom illuminated by the lamp light.
He stared directly at the blood dripping from her wrist, he did not see what happened when he and Zechs entered the mansion, but from the hurried attitude that the old butler Pegan showed, Heero needed not to guess or suspect something had happened. Relena watched the Japanese teenager silently tears following down her cheeks unhindered. Behind him Zechs stood watching the scene quietly his blue eyes full of sympathy as well as concern. "What happened?" Zechs asked coming up to Heero's side. The 17-year-old young man shrugged in response. "Got me," He uttered untruthfully. Relena swallowed back a sob noting that Heero's monotone behavior had not changed at all to her great relief. She looked down at the labored-breathing 13-year-old then at the two men standing in the bedroom door.
"I know you may never like Jin Heero, but I'm asking you this once to help him please," Relena whispered meekly. Heero stared at the young woman for the longest time pondering on the decision before him. Closing his eyes Heero lowed his head briefly before bringing it back up, Relena felt a swell of relief inside of her rekindled. Zechs noticed the obvious tension between his sister and his once rival and knew this issue was none of his business but if there was anyway he could resolve it, he would help. Stepping forward he said, "My car is outside, we'll get the hospital quicker that way," Relena's head jerked up towards her brother for the first time, Zechs gave her an impassive stare. Turning on his heel he made his way down the hall toward the stairs. Relena slowly slid over to the edge of the bed cradling the unconscious Jin as though he were a doll. "I can carry him," Heero spoke when Relena stepped before him. Relena averted her gaze down at Jin then at the stoic 17-year-old before her. Seeing that there was no harm in letting him Relena handed Jin over to Heero, the Japanese teenager nodded in thanks before the two headed down the stairs. Relena grabbed their jacket's, slipped into her snow boots and followed Heero outside to Zechs SUV.
Zechs awaited them patiently watching in the rear-view mirror as Relena climbed in after Heero who sat next to the window. "There is a empty seat up here, Relena," Zechs said. "I thank you for the offer brother, but I'd feel better back here," Relena whispered. "Is that a problem?" Zechs' eyes narrowed for a moment before deciding to reply to his little sister's question. "No, its fine," He stated quietly. Heero grunted softly when Jin shifted his head against his belt upon the roaring of the engine, relaxing in his chair Heero watched the mansion vanish behind them as the SUV pulled out of the drive way.
"You could've waited for the Ambulance to arrive at your destination, sir,"
"Hn...,"
"What kind of a response is that young man?"
"My kind of response,"
"Heero if your not to going to cooperate with Dr. Yukari, then don't say anything at all,"
"Hn..."
"I'm Sorry about that, he's not much of a talker,"
"Fine with me, Relena, just tell me what happened and maybe I can figure out what happened to my patient,"
This sensation of pain that was pumping through his entire being was not something of a new occurrence. Ever since he had turned eleven Jin had begun to suffer the consequences of the experimental Stratagos drug his mother had used on herself when she was pregnant with him. However, with no knowledge of this Jin figured it was side affects from his comatose state surfacing inside of him. When the young Korean also noticed a change in his bodily appearance, such as the sudden growth sprout and the maturity of his facial features, Jin was almost certain it was side affects from being a comatose state. Now he was very sure he was comatose again, but the problem was that he could see the white ceiling.
Maybe this was a different kind of coma. His onyx blue eyes squinted and his ears twitched at the sound of two voices standing next to whatever he lying on. It was muffled but the Korean could tell one of them sounded very upset about something while the other adamant in his decision whatever it was, Jin frankly didn't care he just wanted to get some sleep and forget about everything. Even his own name. And while focusing on the task of ignoring the two supposed men Jin found the task of swallowing incredibly painful, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
He lifted his tongue feeling around his mouth until he opened his eyes once again and noticed the one thing he never expected to see so soon; a woman dressed in hospital attire standing with her back to Heero's Yuy's side. Heero's eyes had fallen from the ceiling down onto his fearful gaze, the Japanese teenager was startled so to speak to even see Jin awake so early. He stepped away from Dr. Yukari as Jin raised an arm to remove the tube extending down into his stomach, Relena arched an eyebrow at the rapidly moving Heero her eyes following his movements until they fell upon the conscious Jin. "Jin!" She cried happily. Jin averted his pained grasp towards the honey-blonde, the memories of what had happened inside the bedroom came flooding back to him. He fought to control the nauseous sensation that overcame him while pulling at the tube sticking out of his mouth.
"Whoa, hey now, don't do anything stupid, I'll get it out of you," Yukari cried grasping both Jin's wrists. Jin's eyes still retained the wild look about him though he nodded in agreement. Although she had gotten his consent Yukari felt nervous around this boy; he looked like a time bomb ready to go off if tampered with handled the wrong way. Swallowing roughly the doctor pulled the tube out of his body in the correct manner, Jin coughed violently. "There, done!" Yukari sighed thankfully. Jin in turn glared at the doctor before falling backwards into the non-comfortable cushion of the pillow his head rested upon, Relena sighed ducking out of Yukari's way as she moved quickly towards the skin on the far side of the hospital room with the tube in her hand. Heero took the liberty of resting himself up against the wall next to Jin's bed and stared off into space.
Jin swallowed once or twice trying to regain the feeling his throat but it remained numb. Damned Hospitals, He thought scornfully. Yukari resumed her position beside the bed standing next to Relena, she watched Jin's eyes nervously darted at her then at the wide open door, he seemed to do a double take because he hadn't noticed Zechs standing up against the wall outside. Sighing Yukari looked over the chart on her clip board twice before speaking. "Well, by what Miss Darlain tells me, you may of had a nervous breakdown. However, I've never heard of a nervous break down with these kinds of symptoms. I have a sneaking suspicion that you may be sensitive to sedative and that could've a factor for your break down, which is why you had the tube down your throat. Was there something in your life that could've caused this? Anxiety, Anything?" Jin folded his arms over his chest and remained silent, Yukari looked at Relena. The honey blonde returned the hopeless expression.
"Leave him alone," Heero spoke. Relena shifted her gaze toward the stoic young man her expression was an indignant one, Heero continued to stare in one direction. "Heero, how are we supp--." Heero turned his head in response and replied without giving Relena a chance to finish her sentence. "Its pretty clear he doesn't want your help, so just leave him be for the time being," Jin's onyx blue eyes narrowed at the now silent Japanese teenager beside him, there was no doubt in his mind that if he were well enough he would kick Heero's stuck-up ass. Yukari wasn't about to take the advice of a boy who wasn't educated in the ways of medical treatment.
"Who do you think you are? The only way this problem is going to be solved is that we get this boy to open up about his problems!" Yukari cried. Jin scoffed amused by the sudden heart of this woman he turned his head toward the closed blinds of the window high above the ground near the ceiling, he wondered if there was get up there without attracting attention. Heero stared at the fuming doctor across from him in the corner of his eye never moving to object to the woman but he knew he couldn't leave completely in the dark. "The kid's got amnesia, from what he's told me he can't remember most of the stuff that's happened to him," Heero stated firmly. Relena's stared at her feet downcast upon hearing her doctor friend announce that Jin needed rest and every one inside the bedroom had to leave, Heero left having no problem with obeying the request. Yukari was next and Relena hesitantly followed suite. She could feel her chest tighten when she shut the door behind her. "I'll be back, I'm going to check on the blood test for this kid. Afterwards I suggest you people go home, he'll be staying here overnight," And with that Yukari dashed down the crowded right corridor.
Relena rested herself next to her brother against the wall, Zechs greeted her with a small nod. She gave him a small smile just as Heero walked up to her. She felt awkward around him all over again but managed a nervous smile. "Relena do you know anyone named Hino?" He asked her. "No, I've never heard of anyone named Hino," Relena shook her head for extra measure. Nodding his head Heero deemed he had no reason to stay in the hospital having discovered the well being of Jin. Relena watched him leave for a moment before reaching out and grasping forearm. "W-wait, Heero. Won't you at least stay at the Sanc Kingdom? It's a ways back to Duo and Hilde's," Relena stated. Heero looked down at her delicate fingers wrapped around his forearm then shifted his cool gaze to her face, closing his eyes he obliged to the girl's request. Relena's face brightened extremely when Heero sat himself down in one of the chairs, she rested herself up against the wall once more.
Zechs watched her body language; it was relaxing by the minute and he thought now was the best time to give his present to her. Clearing his throat he reached down into the bag resting on the floor beside him and pulled out the gift-wrapped box, Relena peered at the box quizzically then up at her brother her eyes reflecting maturity and a childlikeness at the time. Zechs carefully handed the box over to his sister muttering a heartfelt "Merry late Christmas," Relena smiled and neatly unwrapped her present, Heero looked on with no particular interest as Relena shoved the pieces of wrapping paper into the pockets of her jacket. One hand cradled the bottom of the box while her other hand removed the top of the box, inside she found a jewelry box made out white pine decorated in gold embroidery. Beside the jewelry box resided a silver key.
"Millardo... its beautiful, thank you," Relena whispered breathlessly. Zechs' mouth twitched at the mention of birth name but he smiled all the same for his sister, the only person aside from Noin he'd let call him that. 'I'm glad you like it sister," He replied. Relena placed the untied ribbon inside the box before placing the top back onto it. Heero arched his eyebrow out curiosity as to what it was Zechs had given Relena. He sighed shifting his attention to the hospital door, he became alert at the sound of an object slamming against something inside the hospital room.
Rising from the chair Heero barged into the bedroom. The sounds of the heart monitor screeching, the IV line swinging around the pole the bag was upon, and the empty hospital bed was all that was inside. Jin was gone. "Kuso," He uttered running towards the window. Zechs and Relena entered the bedroom upon the time Heero was climbing through window that lead outside. Why Jin? Relena thought sadly as Yukari came running into bedroom followed by several nurses. "What the hell happened?" Yukari cried. By that time Heero was already outside the hospital..
Jin hugged himself as he traveled down the snow riddled sidewalk wrapped in Heero's jacket which the 17-year-old had left at the end of his bed after leaving the room. His bare feet begged him to turn back but he refused to listen to his better judgement and continued down the sidewalk, he examined the small shops across the street as the cars zoomed by bringing with them an unwelcome cold blast of air that made his entire body shake. He searched Heero's jacket pockets for some money, he only found eleven dollars and fifty cents, he figured the rest of the money was with Heero. Naturally. He sighed and spotted a teenager's clothing outlet and figured he might as well try his luck with the little money he had in his possession.
Behind him Heero followed his every movement, he stopped several feet away from him watching as the 13-year-old Korean crossed the street and enter a store. He figured Jin would pull a stupid stunt like escape from the hospital. At least he wasn't dumb enough to try and brave the half naked in a hospital dress and his jacket. The people inside the shop would probably think he was a crazy that escaped from the mental institution, crossing the street quickly Heero made sure he was out of sight and leant up against the wall of the shop and awaited Jin's return to the outside. Heero watched the snow flakes fall onto the ground around him for what seemed like hours and hours until he heard the bell of the door ring and voices full of compassion and guilt flooding out of the shop.
There stood Jin in a pair of tight fitting jeans (much like Trowa's), a thick cotton sweater he wore underneath his own demin jacket with a swade collar, a pair of water-proof snow boots and a bag possibly containing more clothes hanging on his right arm. He wore a fake smile as he pretended to listen to the truly sappy words coming out of the store owners mouth before he waved to them and shut the door. Whatever Jin had done or said to them, those women fell for it. He had better not sold my jacket, Heero thought. Jin sighed with relief rubbing his eyes for a minute and then began to walk toward Heero whom he was unaware of. Heero waited until the 13-year-old was out of the shop's line of sight before approaching him. Jin felt a shiver run up his spine.
He turned and almost dropped the bag and ran for it had he not seen the look on Heero's face; an expression of pure annoyance and disregard for his well-being. "I never figured you'd find me that quick," Jin grumbled reaching into the bag. Heero remained still but took his jacket when it was offered to him, he slipped it over his arms and straightened it. Jin yelped when he was grabbed by the collar of his jacket and hauled down the street opposite of the hospital, he gave Heero a strange look. "Erm... Onii-chan, the hospital is the other way," Jin uttered. Heero looked down at the young man before stopping at the edge of the sidewalk, he relaxed his grip on Jin's collar. "We're not going back to the hospital, you'll just run away again," Heero responded. "Then where are we going?" Jin said annoyed. Heero did not respond, he raised his arm and a taxi-cab drove to them and unlocked the door. "Get in," Heero demanded. Jin climbed into the vehicle all the while thinking Relena was kill Heero for not bringing him back to the hospital.
Heero followed suit shutting the door, the cab driver examined the both of them for a moment before asking where it was they wanted to go. "New port city," Heero responded. The driver gave him an look but obliged to the 17-year-old's request. The ride to Sanc Kingdom's capitcal was a silent one; Jin would occasionally try to spark a conversation with Heero but the stoic Japanese teenager gave him no or little response so Jin remained quiet until they reached their destination. Jin climbed out of the taxi and Heero payed the cab-driver the correct amount of money before climbing out himself, the yellow car drove off leaving them on the side-walk of Newport city. Heero gestured to Jin, the young man followed the silent teenager until they reached the gates of Peacecraft mansion, Jin stared up at the large onymous gates with skeptic onyx blue eyes before staring at Heero with a smug expression. "Now what?" He grinned.
"Simple; we go up," Heero grinned back then grabbed the boy by the waist and tossed him upward as high as he could. Jin managed to just yell at the last second. He then hit the ground hard, Heero stepped back sizing up the height of the gate he then dashed forward and leapt high up into the air. Jin groaned clutching his side upon the soft landing of Heero. Heero pulled the young man up onto his feet before resuming his walk towards the front door of the house, Jin staggered behind him holding his injured side. Heero helped Jin up the stairs allowing him to lean against his body. He knocked once and awaited an answer, propping the young man up against the wall of the building Heero made his way down the stairs. Jin felt a stab of pain in his heart when he realized Heero had no intentions of staying. "H-hey where are you going?" He stammered.
Heero paused in his steps turning to meet the almost saddened gaze of Jin. "I'll go where my mind takes me, I've payed Relena back for all the trouble you caused her," He replied prepared to resume walking. Jin pushed away from the wall and attempted to follow after him but found himself on his knees by the first stair. "Hang on Heero-- I've gotta tell you something, its important," Jin moaned. Heero rolled his eyes and turned to meet the grounded boy, he impatiently awaited this 'something important.' Jin grinned weakly. "You when I told you my parents abandoned me on that colony that was destroyed? Well, that was lie, I really don't remember what happened that or anything prior to that day. But I do know it happened because I have nightmares about it. Vivid nightmares, I can practical my smell my mother and father next to me before I walk away from them... then I smell fire, then I feel nothing. I'm just numb.
"I wake up all the time cold, even in the dead of summer. I guess I'm just reliving my time floating around in space. I woke up in a hospital as you know, and then I was put through physical and mental rehabilitation. Those doctors tired to force me to remember what I couldn't, eventually I began to have the nightmares. Its why I nervous breakdowns. I've had them since I was eight. I've tried my best to move on with my life, but its so hard when you don't remember the beginning of it. Why I can't I..." Jin let his words linger between them for a moment, Heero stared at Jin with a look of indifference but understood how he felt all too well.
How many times must I kill that girl and her dog? The question remained unanswered to this day and Heero knew Jin just wanted answers to the questions he had, and perhaps his memory back so he could move on with his life. Sighing Heero ran his hand through his thick mess of bangs. "Jin I can't give you answers to your questions. We Gundam pilots didn't have the best lives either ("But at least you can remember yours.." Jin uttered), but we're moving on the best we can. I suggest you do the same, its about all you can do. Its what your parents would want you to do." Heero stated firmly. Jin nodded blinking rapidly, he averted his gaze away from the ground and back to Heero with the weakest smile he ever put on.
Heero knew that behind that smile laid the broken pieces of a little boy crying for love, a kind of love Relena could give him. And that was something Heero would not deprive him of, not if there was a chance of actually helping him. "I guess I'll see you later then . . . Onii-chan?" He sniffled. Heero just stared. "Yeah, later," He responded quietly making his way down the stairs. Jin pulled himself off the ground upon hearing the front door open, he watched Heero leap over the gate and take off as fast he could vanishing from sight. Swallowing back a sob he turned and met Pegan's old face. "Master Jin, why aren't at the hospital?" He asked curious. Jin shrugged walking towards the door. Pegan politely stepped aside and let Jin inside the house, the old man took a look outside for a minute before stepping inside the house shutting the door behind him.
(December 31st: A.C. 199: Colony L3):
Trowa twiddled his thumbs idly sitting atop one of the large boxes that had been set in front of the lion's cage, his legs were crossed. The lion could sense there was something bothering his caretaker, lifting is head from off his legs he gave the cage bars a nudge, Trowa felt the Lion's whiskers brush against his below. He turned in response. The Lion made soft growling sounds indicating he wanted to be rubbed, the visible side of Trowa's face relaxed as he reached inside the cage to rub the large feline creature. He laughed at the joyous growls coming from the lion before they were drowned out by the roar of the crowd obviously thrilled by the fire-spitting juggling twins their manager recently hired in Trowa and Catherine's absence. Trowa gave the lion on last scratch under his chin before removing his arm from the cage. Catherine stepped through the back entrance in her yellow and green costume topped off with her large star earrings, knives and a newly acquired cape. "So what do you think Trowa? Is this too much?" Trowa acknowledged her presence with a small nod. "No, its fine Cathy. The cape might be much though. How are you going throw your knives?" He asked monotonously.
Catherine placed a finger on her chin pondering this predicament for a few moments then said, "I'll just take it off. Its only for show Trowa, don't worry," She said sweetly. Trowa nodded in response upon the arrival of the two twin boys carrying their burnt wood and bowling pins. Catherine and Trowa exited the back of the tint and stepped outside into the performing ring while the spotlights were down and the arena was dark. Trowa laid himself down onto targeting board, two men came rushing up and locked his writs and ankles into the shackles attached to the board then lifted it up into a upright position. Trowa felt the board spin in one direction due to his weight, he kept his eyes locked on the outline of Catherine's body blocking out the sounds of the crowd and the ringmaster. Catherine gave her surrogate brother a thumbs up, then she placed a blind fold over her eyes and tied it in place. Her cape already laid in a heap on the ground.
The sound of the drums being beaten on could be heard and the crowd became wilder impatiently awaiting the next act. "This is it ladies and gentlemen, the final performance! The one you've all been waiting for is about to begin! Please welcome our knife throwing star of the circus, Catherine bloom, and the young clown, Trowa Barton!" The ringmaster announced dramatically. The area was flooded with the light of the spotlights and Trowa could feel the targeting board beginning to spin at a moderate pace, Catherine raised her hand holding the knives and prayed she wouldn't hit her brother. The crowd was silent their tension could be felt from miles away; among the crowd were the sweepers, Hilde Schbeiker and Duo Maxwell. Hilde watched from behind her hands as Catherine began to throw the knives at her moving target, Duo grinned shaking his head.
The two of them had taken one of Une's high-speed shuttles to L4 upon hearing the news from the stoic Latin American himself that he and Catherine along with Ryuusei had returned to space and that their circus was going to be performing soon. Duo wanted nothing more than to escape the confinement of his home and thus dragged an unwilling Hilde to space with him to see Trowa perform. "Oh gosh, I can't watch!" Hilde whimpered. Duo rolled his eyes grabbing both the German-girl's hands on her lap. Hilde kept her eyes shut. This was harder than he had originally thought it would be. "C'mon Hilde, nothing's gonna happen!" He declared releasing his grip on her hands. Hilde shook her head anyway, shrugging Duo kept his eyes on the performance: another knife hit the moving target barely missing Trowa's cheek. Oh man this is intense! The 17-year-old thought excitedly.
Catherine swallowed roughly as she held the last knife in her hand, making herself deaf to everything except the turning of the wheel and her breathing Catherine drew her hand back and tossed the knife as hard as she could. Trowa felt the knife knick his ear before it became wedged into the wood, the wheel stopped turning and the crowd went wild. Catherine peeped through her blind fold, she grinned upon the sight that she had missed Trowa on all the times she had thrown the knives. The two men unlocked Trowa from the target he felt himself fall forward, he landed on his hands and performed well executed flips until he reached Catherine, he could hear all the women screaming with enjoyment when he bowed graciously then stood up taking his place with his sister.
Catherine grasped her brother's wrist and raised both their arms. Hilde had peeked one or two times to see what was happening below before the act was over, she had seen three or more knives hit their spinning target. Duo raised his only mobile arm which had been freed of its hand restricting cast and cheered. Sighing Hilde smiled at the sight of Trowa, placing a hand on her cheek she mumbled dreamily; "I could still fall for that clown," Duo rolled his eyes humorously before rising to his feet. Hilde followed suit and the two of them headed up the stairs to the outside of the tent. "Let's hear it for our stars: Catherine and Trowa!" The ringmaster cried as the two walked away.
Trowa sighed of brief relief as he removed his mask and placed it onto the box he had been sitting on before the performance, the lion looked up at him without moving and the wild-haired young man nodded to the creature in response. Catherine had already gone into the dressing room to get out of her costume so he took this free time to himself to rest before she returned and he would have to go in next. He set himself beside his mask, closing his eyes he listened to the murmurs of the audience as they left until he heard an all too familiar voice call out his name. "Yo, Trowa!" His eyes opened shifting them to the side he spotted Duo and Hilde standing across from him. Trowa cracked a small smile glade to see that they had made it to the colony, however, in time was something he would have to ask them. "Hey Duo, Hilde," He said climbing off the box.
Hilde smiled shyly and waved to Trowa, Duo shook his head again as his friend approached them. "Did you guys see the performance?" Trowa asked folding his arms across his chest. "Yeah, I and have to say it was quite intense... Hilde had her eyes closed the entire time!" Duo laughed. Hilde kicked him playfully in the leg causing him to stumbling backward, Trowa stared down at Duo's bare arm then up at his other arm still in a sling. He thought it was safe to assume his friend was healing. "Have you heard from Heero?" Trowa asked. Duo shook his head his face becoming serious. "We haven't seen Heero in a while now, he told me he was going to look for Jin but he hasn't returned yet. How's Quatre?" Trowa grinned at the thought of Quatre, their last encounter was before he had left for space, the green-eyed teen noticed a sparkle in Quatre's eyes he hadn't seen since all of them were together at the winter resort.
Trowa thought it was because he was going home and a certain platinum blonde young woman that stood beside him quietly listening to their conversation on the other Gundam pilots and what Quatre might do once he's back at the winner family mansion. Shrugging, Trowa said, "I haven't seen him since he felt for his home. I can only guess what he's doing now," Trowa replied truthfully. Duo nodded in response before looking around the tent curiously, Hilde continued to try to find something else to look at other than Trowa. There was a moment of silence that surrounded them before Catherine returned to the tent with Ryuusei riding on her back, Duo peered over her shoulder and waved to her. Ryuusei beamed and waved to Duo. "Trowa I'm done in the dressing room, you can use it now," Catherine announced. "Oh... what are you two doing here?" Duo felt the nervousness that radiated from Catherine's voice and overall presence and got the feeling Hilde and himself should be leaving. But he had to get this last tidbit in before doing so.
"So did you hear Relena's gonna be giving a speech in front of the Sanc Kingdom institute? I think it has something to do with our little trip to the mountains," He said rather casually. Trowa nodded in response. "I read it in the news paper. What do think's gonna happen?" He asked. Duo shrugged absentmindedly. "Dunno, but I know wherever that girl is Heero's sure to be there! Gotta go Trowa!" Duo grabbed Hilde by the wrist and made a quick dash out of the back-tent entrance. "Bye Trowa!" Hilde cried before she was out of hearing range. Trowa arched his eyebrow in confusion then looked at his sister who looked a little relieved that they were gone; Catherine was still worried about him leaving. "They just came to say hi Cathy," Trowa stated.
Catherine came up to her brother with a stern look on her face, she placed Ryuusei on the box next to the clown's mask. "It had better been they were here to do," Catherine grumbled patting the small girl on the head. Ryuusei edged over to Trowa proceeding to grasp his gloved hand. "It was," He replied. "Good. Now walk into that dressing room and change. We've got a lot of work ahead of us," Catherine stated with a smile. Trowa shook his head before picking Ryuusei up off the box and placing her onto his shoulders then headed off in the direction of the dressing room. Catherine watched his retreating back for a minute longer before averting her gaze down at the jester's mask. Oh Trowa, was all that registered in her mind.
"Oh come on, how many times I'm gonna have to go through this?" Duo cried. "I really need that generator!" The spare parts dealer had his arms folded across his chest, refusing to budge. Duo looked down at the electric generator made as a backup power source incase any thing spanning from main power failure occurred, the young American noticed there was a large demand for these things on earth and more so on the colonies and their junk-yard had a made a considerable amount of money when they had over a dozen of them Hilde had found discarded all over town.
None of them had been in the greatest condition but Duo managed to get them all repaired. However, he now stood in front of a man who held a electric generator that was in mint condition and was untouched, unused. Hilde had gone off to one of the restaurants to get them lunch. Duo stared at the middle-aged dealer and began to conjure up a plan he hoped would work on the man. "How about this, I'll trade with you whenever I find something you might want to sell here on the colonies and you do the same for us? How's that?" Duo said pulling out a calculator. "And maybe 30 of our share in money, only if your willing to trade that generator and maybe other things... that is." The dealer stared down at the skinny youth with his hardened brown eyes, examining the boy from the head down before deciding he could not trust this money-swindling kid.
Leaning a closer to Duo he glared at him. "Do you take me for some idiot kid?" He asked. Duo leaned in equally close grinning. "I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie," Was his honest response. The dealer just looked at Duo for the longest time considering the profit this deal could give him if he accepted it and the great loss it would cause him if it didn't. Sighing the man turned his back for a minute then returned facing Duo, he held a pin and a clip board with a forum upon out to him. "Just sign here, and it'll be delivered to your address. My phone number will be included in the directions that will come with the generator.
But you better hold your part of the bargain kid," The dealer said. Duo finished filling out the forum and nodded in response, adding, "Same to you buddy-boy! Later!" With that the American took off down the crowded market place of L3. He headed for the restaurant Hilde gave him the directions to, when arrived there he found Hilde sitting at one of the outside tables surrounded by boxes of what Duo recognized as lunch. As he approached the table he could hear Hilde speaking to the portable vidphone she had laid out on the table, the person she was holding the conversation with was none other than Relena Peacecraft. He sat down beside her silently reaching for one of the boxes that held their lunch. Duo listened to Hilde for a while before removing the top of the box, the smell of the hot rice ball filled the air like an intoxicating perfume, he picked up one with a napkin and brought it too his mouth.
He chewed the morsel quickly and swallowed quickly, he shoved the rest of the rice ball into his mouth. "... You know where Heero went Relena?" Hilde asked. The image of the Vice forgien minister shook her head sadly. "All I know is that he brought Jin back to the mansion," Relena responded sadly. "He's gone off somewhere again." Hilde averted her eyes to Duo who was obviously listening on their conversation as he eating his share of rice balls, Hilde reached over and picked one up herself. "So how are things on L3?" Relena asked twidling her thumbs. "They're fine 'Jousan," Duo replied with a mouth full of food. "Trowa's fine, no big incidents to reports at the moment. Oh, good luck on your speech this new years day." Relena smiled wearily at the reminder of the speech she had been preparing for that day, though she doubted anyone would be listening.
New years day was a time for recuperation after New years eve. "Thank you Duo," She said. Duo nodded in response donning his famous grin. "I am having a party to celebrate new year on the 3d. Would want to come?" Both teenagers stared at each other for a moment then turned to the screen with the expectant and almost excited face of Relena Darlain. Duo hated to hurt 'Jousan's feelings but he really wanted to just spend time with only Hilde this new year. Shaking his head he said "Fraid not, I just want it to be Hilde and I this new year. Maybe next year," He paused a minute watching Relena's fall, disappointed. "Tell Jin I said hi!" He added. Duo watched her perk up a bit. "I'll be sure to," Relena said laughing. The screen then went black. Duo returned to his chair picking up another rice ball, Hilde closed the vidphone and placed it back into her green backpack. "Do you think she's alright?" Hilde asked. Duo nodded though the grim look on his face said otherwise.
"It nothing to worry about Hilde, Relena's tough. And like I said before, wherever she is Heero isn't far behind. He'll keep protecting her because he feels he has to," He said quietly. Hilde looked down at the palms of hands before she felt Duo's hand upon her head, she winced when her ruffled her hair. "Duo...," She said warningly. Duo leaned in smiling brightly and placed a kiss on her cheek, Hilde giggled at her friend and slapped him playfully on the arm. He drew back and picked up another rice ball and popped it into his mouth. "Anyways, let's not think about that! We're going to have a great new years eve on this colony!" Duo exclaimed. Hilde grinned in agreement and raised her cup of soda in agreement, Duo did the same. "To New years!" They said in unison.
(Mountainous area; China)
Wufei and Sally walked along side each other through the snowy forest silent and observing, snow rabbit's jumped behind on tree to the next appearing to be curious of their presence in the forest. Knowing that the last time human's were within the creature's home they were less than respectful of its land and practical set it aflame with their machines of war, nevertheless the snow rabbits continued to jump behind the tree trunks until they were no longer interested in Wufei or Sally's presence in the forest and went looking for food. Wufei watched several of them scurry away into the thick of the bushes surprised that they had given up their supposed pursuit of them already, he and Sally had only been out for their walk for fifteen minutes or so.
Shrugging the snow that fallen from the branches off his down jacket he shoved his hands into his pockets and went to go catch up with Sally who hadn't taken notice of his absence beside her. "So Wufei what exactly brought you out here in the first place?" Sally asked as he came up beside him. Wufei shrugged his shoulders looking about him lazily. "It wasn't because you wanted to get away from your peers was it?" Sally joked. "No, I just needed to see something alive," He answered. Sally looked genuinely surprised, she nodded in agreement knowing that particular feeling. She returned to her home because she was tired of staring at the box she called an office in Preventers HQ.
Grinning at the memory of Une's perplexed face when she asked for a vacation Sally in turned examined the forest area. The frosted tree branches reminded of her candy canes to a certain extent and the snow falling from the trees of ice-cream, she turned to see if Wufei felt the same but all she saw was the almost natural deadpan expression on his face. "What do you want to do this new years? The villagers are having a party down at the bar, do you want to join?" Sally asked hoping to lift his spirits. Wufei looked at her strangely at the mention of 'party'. She had to be out of her gourd if she thought he was going to a chaotic party Sally Po had another thing coming to her. "No, I'm heading to the mountains where I laid Nataku to rest," Wufei replied quietly kicking the snow.
Sally's eyebrows raised curiously but said nothing to object, Wufei averted his eyes toward her for a minute then cracked a small smile. Shaking her head Sally reached up and fixed her ear muffs back in the correct position on her head. "I guess that means I'll be going to the party by myself," Sally said dramatically. Wufei blinked in response. "I guess so," He replied sighing. Sally felt as though she were going smack the young man on the back of his head! Noting phased this kid, not even the need of others wanting his company.
Sally calmed herself down before she could any more upset and placed her hand on his head. "Your one strange kid, Chang Wufei...," Uttered the Chinese woman. Wufei reached up and removed her hand from his head as calmly as he could. "If your asking for company, go ask one those friends of your in the village," He said simply. Sally rolled her eyes in response, Wufei always had a simple solution to a dilemma. "Because, they'll already be at the party Wufei," Sally stated firmly. Wufei glared at her. He had already made his decision and there was no way in the seven rings of hell that he was going to that blasted party. He quite sure to have the most indecent and immoral activities and beverages when he would go and do something so much more important.
Much more important than counting down to new years! "My decision is final Sally, I will go and do what I have to and you do what you have to do," He snapped walking a head of her. Sally paused in her footsteps watching the young man brisk walking pace, it was obvious he had laid his demons to rest, but she could tell he still felt as though he had to visit the grave of a machine he had been with for so long. Or maybe it was more than just a machine --- a Gundam to him, maybe to Wufei Nataku was a real person. Heh, she shrugged shaking her head, she would never really understand him completely. Scratching the back of her neck Sally went off to catch up with Wufei who had already vanished from sight. When she did, she found him standing on the edge of the cliff where he had manually destroyed the Nataku gundam.
Sally studied his posture. It was stiff but strong all the same, his head was held up high and his pony tail whipped helplessly in the air. She would admit he was a different person now that the war was over, he showed more of a softer side of himself though he maintained he honor and prideful attitude. Swallowing, Sally walked up behind him and stared down at the world below. It was impossible to even tell that a mobile suit had been destroyed there, the snow covered it up nicely and green life among other things had since grown there.
"Hey, Wufei...," She began. "I'm sorry. If going here to Nataku's grave is important then I have no right to ask to do otherwise. Please forgive me." Wufei stared off into space, he had heard every word spoken from Sally's mouth and accepted it wholeheartedly. "I forgive you Sally, happy new year," He said. Sally breathed a short sigh of relief. "You too Wufei." She paused. "I'll be in the village if you need me. I'll see you later." Wufei gave her a small nod and let her head back into the shelter of the forest. He averted his attention back to the howling wind, arching his head upward he listened with every fiber of his being. I can still hear you speaking to me, Nataku, He thought sorrowfully.
(Kushrenada Residence; 12:45PM):
Lady Une watched from across the table as Mariemaia picked at her lunch, her expression hadn't changed from the despairing one since she had arrived from work earlier this morning. Mariemaia had told her about her friend Dido being kicked out the dance class only to have her to swear not to go to the school board when she every intention of doing so after hearing that story. But she not one to break her promise and it was obvious that Mariemaia did not want her to break this one. Sighing Une placed her pen on the side and picked up her baloney sandwich. Before placing it into her mouth, Une asked, "How was your morning, Mariemaia?" The orange-red haired girl looked up at the woman across from her, the despairing expression still upon her face and replied, "It was fine Mother, Dido and I had fun on the ice-rink in town," Then returned to picking at her food.
Lady Une sighed realizing the more she picked at the subject, the more closed up Mariemaia would make herself. It wasn't becoming of her at all, nor was it in Mariemaia's personality, however Une had to take many things into consideration now since the sudden arrival of Jin. She remembered when her daughter had come into their bedroom at the Peacecraft mansion and was crying about Jin not liking her anymore, Une assumed Mariemaia had a crush on the troublesome boy, but analyzing the facial expressions and reactions Mariemaia got when someone mentioned the 'boy' or 'Jin', she realized it was much more than that. Mariemaia held a sort of admiration for the Korean much like she had of Treize.
Going out of her way to please him and doing anything she could to complete a mission. But since they were not in the military Une supposed this admiration was born out of pity for him, a pity Une thought was a dangerous emotion to even harbor toward an amnesiac. Then she remembered the one time Mariemaia had first spoken about him without mentioning his name; it was after they had foiled Dorothy's sister's plans to take over the ESUN, after school, Mariemaia had slightly complained to Lady Une (while she was doing paperwork) about how cold and distant this boy who new at St. Gabriel was and how she wished to get to know him better. Une never took the girl's curiosity towards this boy seriously and muttered something about giving him a gift then ushering the girl out of her office. Her eyebrows knitted together.
How she wished she had paid more attention to the subject. How she wished Mariemaia would go back to asking about her father, his excellency's Treize Kushrenada, it was so much simpler to give an answer to those questions. The palms of Une's hands hit the table hard causing Mariemaia to jump in surprise. She would not let it go on forever, Une would make her daughter return to her normal ways and quit obsessing over just a boy. "Mariemaia," Une spoke firmly. "Yes mother?" Mariemaia replied meekly. Une straightened her posture pulling out the wrinkles in her loose cut dress shirt and pleated pants, the red-orange haired girl awaited the sound of Une's voice fearfully knowing her behavior was less than exceptionable.
"You are to put your thoughts of Jin aside and get on with your life. School will be starting soon and I can't have you acting like this. Do you understand?" Une said. Mariemaia rose from her seat nervously but nodded all the same, Lady Une nodded in obvious approval of this answer. "Good. Now, clear your plate from the table and go play. I have a lot of preparations to take of for Miss Darlain's speech later on," Mariemaia nodded quickly.
Picking up her plate the 10-year-old girl headed out of the dining room and into the kitchen where the maids where busily cleaning up messes left behind. Sighing Une fell back into her chair, she began to rub her temples wearily knowing what as to happen next, she stared at the empty space that her daughter once occupied Une wondered what exactly she was going to do with that renegade boy that seemed to have captured every curious fiber in Mariemaia's body. Rubbing her temple more fervently the 22-year-old German arose from the dinning table and headed for her office leaving her lunch untouched, having lost her apatite. It was going to be a long day.
(4:00PM; Colony L4):
Quatre sighed entering the office his father once owned before his untimely death. He wasn't sure why he came into this particular room, he had his own office residing next to his bedroom. The room gave off a musky smell that brought back memories of himself and his father spending what Iria liked to call quality time. They way Quatre saw it however, was simply being in the same room at the same time, never really taking notice of each others presence. Although being the child he was back when Quatre tried his hardest to get his father's attention but to no avail and sometimes it seemed pointless to even try but he did. Quatre frowned at the memory as he switched the light on in the space-ish room, the window was covered by the large embroidered curtains, the desk had been covered with a large white sheet as was everything else. The pictures of his mother were set down upon the floor also covered in sheets, the only thing visible was the picture of himself and his father out in the garden.
He closed the space between him and the desk he stared down at the picture trying to force back the oncoming ocean of emotions attached to that picture, his heart throbbed with a pain that wasn't as deep as it was several years ago but it still cut him like a butchers knife. His fingers brushed up against the dusty glass frame gingerly, it almost stung to even touch it, his eyes began to tear up. "What brings you here?" A voice from behind asked. Quatre turned finding himself staring at the tall lanky figure of his sister Iria, her arms crossed on her chest her legs close togther wearing her normal turtle neck and slacks. Quatre rubbed his face to see if any of his tears had fallen from his eyes afraid his sister would question this. Iria watched him carefully never bothering to ask if there was something bothering him ---- not just yet anyway. "Oh Iria, I didn't hear you come in," Quatre stammered swallowing.
Iria's chin shifted while her tongue rolled in her mouth tasting the remnants of orange juice she had drank before headed up stairs to check on her little brother. "I didn't mean to startle you Quatre, I was worried when you didn't come back down," She said. "You ate dinner so quickly. I got the feeling you didn't want to be around us." Quatre smiled sympathetically knowing he could use an excuse like being too excited to be home to eat dinner slowly but Iria would know when he lied, so there was no point. His eyes were downcast staring at the carpet on the floor, he counted every visible multicolored fiber upon it. Iria knew he was stalling, she remembered Quatre's hesitant ways when it came to something deeply personal to him. "I came here to remember father," He whispered. Iria's heart fluttered at the mention of their long deceased father once the Winner family's only living parent until one faithful day.
Quatre had taken her to the hospital where she was treated in the physical care unit until she recovered from the injures she sustained saving Quatre's life. Iria had fractured her pelvis and hip leaving her stranded in the physical rehabilitation station under the Winner family company, and on crutches afterward. The oldest winner daughter had eventually healed but still kept a sore reminder of that day with her on. A sore hip during the colony winters. "Does it still hurt? To think about him I mean?" She asked tentative. Quatre shook his head his bangs shifting from left to right in the process. "Not so much, I miss him still even to this day," He replied hoarsely with a smile.
Iria walked over to her little brother closing the gaping space between them, she laid a hand on Quatre's slouched shoulder. She found it hard herself to speak without giving away the indication that she was ready to cry. "You'll always miss him Quatre, we all will," Quatre looked at his big sister with tearing eyes before embracing her in a the strongest hug he could muster from his arms that were feeling weary at the moment. Iria returned the hug swallowing down her surprise. Her image of Quatre being the strongest one among them had melted in that instant and the image of her fragile little brother returned. After a moment of silence the older Winner pulled away from the ex-pilot and smiled, Quatre looked up at her refusing to cry. "I'm going to check on Dorothy, will you be okay here?" He asked. His sister nodded gesturing wordlessly to the door as if she were ordering him to leave, Quatre nodded slowly before making a jog for the office door.
He ventured down the hall until he reached Dorothy's bedroom. Quatre opened the bedroom door then peered inside to find the long blonde haired woman lying on her back in bed reading the book of mice and men. Quatre grinned thoughtfully before knocking light on the frame of the door; Dorothy lowered her book long enough to stare at the smiling Quatre Winner. "Come in," Was her simple request. He obliged stepping through the small crack of the door shutting it behind him, Dorothy watched him with her pale blue eyes as he approached her bed his fingers rubbing the fabric of his vest between his fingers. There was something obviously on his mind as always, Dorothy felt his weight upon her bed when he sat down beside her.
"Hello again Quatre, I can assure you that my ankle is doing just fine thanks to your sister Iria," Dorothy announced with a sort of pride. The young man smiled at the sound of her voice nodding briefly, there was something about Dorothy he enjoyed when in her presence. It had been that way since after the war he began to talk to her whenever she was in his area of space aside from the fact that at times, Dorothy did not want anything to do with Quatre other than the fact that the new Romafeller foundation, under her command was associated with the Winner company. However, as time dragged on Dorothy became accustomed to the well expected conversations with Quatre whenever she went out to the L4 area and the two soon became well adjusted friends.
Placing a bookmark in her book Dorothy pulled herself up from her lying position placing the back of her hand underneath her chin proceeding to examine the nervous demeanor of the boy sitting on her bed. Quatre in turn sent a smile in her direction before speaking, desperate to break the uneasiness he felt welling up inside of him. "Do you like your present Dorothy?" He asked quietly. Dorothy blinked uncertain what he had meant by this. Yes, she loved her present, it reminded her of the pocket watch her father used to carry around with him in order to keep himself on time with his busy life in the military. "Yes I do," Was the simple reply.
Quatre nodded his eyes drooped a bit when he took notice of it still upon the desk, it suddenly hurt to think about his mother as well. His mind was now screaming at nothing but a ghost a, invisible specter that resided in this bedroom, he kept asking himself why? Why did he have to the one that had ultimately been the demise of his mother? Iria had told him it was because she wanted bear a child within her and knew the risks of doing so. She told him Father had objected many times to this but Catherine Winner was adamant in her decision and thus she became pregnant with him. Iria, also told him there was no point in blaming himself over something he had no control over whatsoever and should move on. However, Quatre was well aware that it was so much harder to do than say. "I'm glad," He finally said with a smile. Dorothy's eyebrow arched in question.
Noting that Quatre's behavior was brooding and unhappy, so much unlike the Quatre she had come to know. "Is there something the matter?" Dorothy asked calmly sitting up. Quatre glanced briefly at the long haired blonde then shifted his gaze back down at the wrinkles of his thin fingers. "I went to my father's office...," He said. Dorothy's mouth formed the shape of an 'O', her eyebrows raising and her opening a little more in astonishment. So this was why he was down. Ah, the magnificent Senior Winner; he died beautifully believing what he thought was just. Few do and for what I commend your father, Quatre. It was what she wanted to say to him but now wasn't time for her speeches, leaning forward she placed a hand upon his shoulder and rested her head upon the hand. "Dorothy?" He whispered quietly.
"Thank you." She averted her pale blue eyes towards the Arabian teenager she laid upon. "Thank you? Whatever for?" Dorothy muttered curiously. Quatre continued to stare down at his hands, he knew what was in her heart and what it tempted her to say, but he was glad that she had enough strength to overcome the temptation that could cause her to say two little words people heard too much of. "Thank you for not saying 'I'm sorry'," He said quietly. Dorothy shifted her head upward so that her chin was resting on the back of her hand, strands of her blonde hair flowed over Quatre's shoulders obscuring his face slightly but not to an extent where she couldn't see it. She gave him a look that he knew all to well; a look of confusion and an emotion recognized as concern. He leant his head up against the side of hers and closed his eyes. There two of them sat enjoying each others silence.
(Sanc Kingdom institute):
Relena watched from the window of her office, as people gathered around the large stage set out in front of the school. She felt nervous all over again, she had never seen so many people gathered at the school before, they truly must've thought whatever she was going to say was absolutely important, otherwise, why come? The honey blonde turned her head upon hearing the door open, Noin and Zechs stepped into the room, the tall 22-year-old shut the door behind him then took his place beside Noin who stood inches away from the desk. Relena turned to them never bothering to hide the weary look upon her face. Relena wore her traditional white suit and pants topped off with a rose pinned onto the left flap of the suit jacket, her hair was combed straight and lightly tied behind her back.
Noin frowned slightly at the tired expression on the young woman's face, the dark circles under her eyes clearly indicated that she hadn't been getting a lot of sleep. "Has, he spoken to anyone yet?" Relena asked. Zechs' eyebrows furrowed in slight agitation that the fact that all his sister had been worried about was the little boy. "No, no he hasn't," Noin answered blandly. "Jin hasn't come out of the bedroom since you came back." Relena sighed in dismay, ever since she had returned after dealing with the crisis in the hospital, Pegan had told her that Jin had supposedly found his way back to the mansion and went directly up to the bedroom he occupied and never left it since. Relena had tried coaxing Jin out of the bedroom but he wouldn't have it. Jin never bothered to answer her; the European 17-year-old made herself believe he was just sleeping and went on about her business.
Now she had a speech to carry out and things weren't going the way she had expected them to. Swallowing, Relena straightened out of her jacket and picked up the documents that Une had mailed to her from off the desk and walked towards the door. Zechs closed his blue eyes when she past him shuddering mentally at the feeling of dismay that radiated off his sister's small thin body, he lifted his head a bit more as Relena stepped outside of her office. The two of them were silent for a moment before speaking. "Are you alright Zechs?" Noin asked worriedly. "I'm fine Noin, its Relena you should be worrying about," He replied sternly turning to meet her dark eyed gaze. Noin felt slightly guilty for asking him such a question, but as someone she knew and cared for it was an automatic response.
"Yeah. Your probably right about that," She replied quietly looking down at her feet. Zechs strode over to her closing the space between them, he placed both his hands upon her shoulders and pulled her close to him."I'm not angry," He said. "I know you aren't," Noin wrapped her arms around his waist resting her head upon his chest. The two of them stayed like that for the longest time, not a care in the world about anything else, all that mattered was them. Noin felt as though she could stay the was she way forever and never have a complaint. Bringing herself back to reality she pulled away from Zechs slowly and smiled bashfully. "I think we should go and catch up with Miss Relena. I'd hate for anything to happen and we could've prevented it," She whispered. Zechs grunted in amusement, Noin was always thinking on her toes. Releasing her hand the two of them headed for the door and headed out with every intention of catching up with the young Darlain girl.
Relena glanced behind her wondering where her brother and Noin were as she approached the front door of the institute, standing on the right and left side of the door was Eriol (right) and Jennie (left) Wheeler admiring the woodwork their minds not even on their assigned job. "Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler," Relena pipped up wanting to surprise them. The married couple jumped into attention giving the Vice minister a stiff salute, she smiled at the two of them when they opened the doors. She paused for a moment her body halfway out the thresh-hold of the building, her mind wandered from every detail of her speech, how she would say it and how the people would applaud her for a job well done.
Well, here I go, she thought stepped outside descending down the stairs. Her arms shivered slightly at the cold air that wrapped around her. Wherever you are Heero, I hope your watching. She waved cheerfully putting on her best smile as she stepped off the last stair and strode across the stage toward the podium, the flashes from the cameras blinded her but she did her best to keep her walk straight until she reached podium and grasped it edges. The crowd fell silent falling back into their seats impatiently waiting her to speak. Relena skimmed through the many faceless people searching for the one face she yearned to see again, but he never showed himself to her. Her hopes dashed, Relena opened her mouth. "As you know, a recent incident has brought to light things that have slipped mine and the Preventers attention and possibly would've gone on without our knowing until it was too late to do anything about it except fight in another miserable war.
"But too my great delight the ringmaster and their plans have brought to a screeching halt, as were the many other organizations related to this one around the world. Now I believe, that perhaps not total peace is working but the opinions and hopes of the people are keeping this world the way it is, the way we've fought so hard obtain and maintain it. Its because of you, this world is still in a state of peace. I personally would like thank everyone for continuing to believing in my message. This is the last day of December and I don't want to bore with my talking so I'll keep this short. For the last two years you've all been asking me why I've given orders to rebuild this city, the Sanc Kingdom, which had fallen so many times under uncontrollable circumstances. My reason is simple; I want to give people a place to say somewhere they be safe when nowhere else feels that way anymore. The Sanc Kingdom and New port city are symbolic to what peace is, but its not peace itself," Relena paused at the sight of someone's hand sticking up above the crowd.
"Yes?" She responded. A young man stood up nervously looking about him as everyone averted their gaze to him. "Uh-- err.. I was wondering. What are you going to about the soldiers from the Alliance, OZ, the Treize faction, and the White Fang?" He said, his tone harboring spite. Relena's eyebrows furrowed her mind wondering what he was getting at, she straightened her face a bit when all averted to her when she did not answer right away. What did they expect of her? Did the people think she would execute them because of their past statuses in life? It was something she would not stand for, not now and not in a million years. "I plan on doing nothing about them," Relena answered curtly. "We are now finally in peace, and we've forged a friendship with the colonies. We can put the past behind us and move on with life. I will not bring up soldiers past activities and put them on trial as if they were criminals. This would only bring about more pain and needless suffering."
The boy frowned and the crowd began to murmur in speculation and surprise. In shadows Heero watched the entire scene unfold before his very eyes, he wondered if the people would change opinion about Relena after this. He sighed scratching the back of his head stepping back in the shadows a little more upon noticing his body was edging out of the hiding place he had picked out. Relena sighed ready to move onto another subject anyone else had on their minds they wanted to address to her, but the boy remained standing and would not be dismissed so easily. "But what happens if they decide to band togther and try to start another war? What will you do then Miss Vice minister?" He asked, venomously. Relena's eye snapped up at the young man with a sort of fire she had not felt since she had met Heero. Swallowing against her dry throat, Relena asked; "What is your name young man?" She asked slowly. The boy's brown eyes narrowed in defiance, beside his father remained seated watching him with weary eyes.
"Katsuya Cypher," Was the reply. Heero's eyebrows raised in surprise, that wasn't what he was expecting to hear. Zechs, Noin,(whom were standing in the background) and Relena reacted in a similar way. Only with Relena it hit her harder than it should've. Katsuya stepped out of the murmuring crowd and out onto the walk way, Relena watched him with hesitant eyes. "My Mother was killed by your Preventers like she was criminal... because of what she was doing and she was soldier! She was only doing what she was told and she was killed like a criminal!" He shouted, enraged. All eyes averted towards the dumbfounded Relena Darlain in question. "She wasn't," Relena stated firmly. "She tried to kill me and others. Margaret was shot because of it, but I do not know if she died. That was never explained to me." Heero stood ready for inevitable his hand placed on the handle of his desert eagle, Katsuya gritted his teeth in sheer anger his hand reaching for something in his jacket.
"Well she did and its all because of you Relena Darlain!" He cried tears falling freely down his cheeks. Relena eyebrows raised in surprise when he sprung into action towards the stage, she stepped back he landed by the podium. Katsuya pulled out a gun and aimed for her heart. Heero stepped out of his hiding placed dashing towards the stage as fast he could. "Mattie, Katsuya!" Heero looked to the right the moment he reached the stage as did the others. His gaze was focused on the crowd that had averted their eyes towards the single person that had spoken. Blinded by his tears Katsuya shifted his head to the right as the person leapt from the crowd and onto the stage he blinked in confusion at the young man standing across from him. "Who are you?" Katsuya muttered his voice raising. Jin tried his hardest not to stare at Katsuya as if he were someone he knew, but the very appearance of his thick red hair and dark brown eyes reminded him too much for Margaret, someone he believed to have killed himself.
"M-my name is Jin --- Toshino," He replied awkwardly. Katsuya's teary red eyes widened in what looked to Heero like sudden joy, he kept his eyes on the boy as he rose to his feet. Jin watched the red haired boy stagger towards him with the gun shaking violently in his grasp, he prayed the safety on the weapon was still on. He did want another trip to the hospital. "You're Jin... you the kid my mom told me about in her letter? The one who lost his parents in a colony accident?" Katsuya asked shakily. The braided teen nodded halfheartedly in response. Katsuya blinked confused by his presence, why was Jin here? Shouldn't he have been someplace else? The rage inside of him slowly began to return numbing any or all second thoughts of his (Katsuya's) being here in the Sanc Kingdom, turning away from Jin Katsuya turned his gun back on Relena, the Vice minister's face hardened. "Katsuya, I suggest you stop what your doing. This won't bring your mother back," Heero pulled himself upon the stage and strode over to Jin who watched with wavering onyx blue eyes.
Jin looked over his shoulder as the Japanese teenager came toward him, he was almost glad his friend was here. Heero never glanced at him he stepped in front of him and raised his own gun. Katsuya did not acknowledge the stoic young man's presence he kept his unsteady hand wielding the weapon on Relena. "I don't care, as long as I can avenge my mother. Everything else is meaningless," He replied darkly. Relena shifted a bit at the sound of the safety being turned off, she looked to her brother who had his hand on his own weapon, Noin did as well but dare not make a move in fear of the girl's life. "I'm warning you Katsuya, if you do not drop the gun, you will die," Heero spoke up again. "Your not a killer. If you were, you would've already pulled the trigger." The red haired boy continued to ignore Heero as he tried with all his might to get his finger to pull the trigger, why was he hesitating? He wanted nothing but to avenge his mother but he couldn't pull the trigger? Katsuya blinked back more tears that threatened to fall and blur his vision, his objective.
Jin swallowed noticing that Katsuya had no intentions of listening to the older man in front of him, exhaling heavily he stepped out from behind Heero, if Katsuya wouldn't listen to everyone else around him then he would get him to listen. He walked forward his feet heavy against the ground. Jin's eye twitched at the stinging pain in his torso, he continued onward until he was just inches away from Katsuya, he felt it necessary to stop where he was. Katsuya stared at the Korean teenager with his head half away turned he kept his aim on Relena. "Katsuya, Relena didn't kill your mother. That was me," He said quietly. There was a twinge pain in both the young men's hearts Jin remained still when Katsuya turned and pointed the barrel of the gun at his head, the temptation of dying was still strong but it ruled him no longer. "H-wow?" Katsuya croaked. "W-why did you do it?" Jin lowered his head in shame with a shake, his eyes were downcast and upon his feet. "I really don't know Katsuya...," He replied.
"I wasn't in my right mind at the time. Margaret-sama had threatened continuously that she would hurt Relena and my friend behind me, and I just snapped and shot her thinking she was ---." Jin's sentence was stopped short upon feeling the barrel of the gun pressed up against the side of his neck, he swallowed nervously watching Katsuya's enraged expression crumbling right before him. "I'm sorry, what I did was wrong and If I could turn back time I would stop this from ever happening. But I can't and sorry is all I can give you," Jin whispered tears spilling from his eyes. It was obvious that Katsuya was hurting because of the death of his mother but it was almost obvious to Jin that he didn't have what it took to pull the trigger and kill him; that would mean more hurt as well as guilt for the death of another. This was something Katsuya wasn't ready for.
Katsuya's lips trembled as he tried to form something to say to Jin. Anything, but nothing came out of his mouth except a loud sob followed by the sound of the gun hitting the stage. Katsuya sank to the ground in a sobbing heap his face buried in his face and his body trembling from the sheer force of the emotion emitting from the young man, Jin stood above him. "I want... I want... I want... my Mother...," He wailed loudly. It took all Jin's strength not to fall out crying him himself, he looked into the dumbstruck crowd when Gene Cypher stepped out it and up the walkway. Heero watched with an impassive expression as Gene grabbed his son off the stage cradling him in his arms. The two of them headed down the walkway until they were out of sight.
The Japanese teenager sighed mentally looking toward Noin and Zechs who remained on alert. He then locked his gaze upon the honey-blonde standing across from him, he took noticed that she was a bit shaken up but remained uninjured by the ordeal. Physically anyways, putting his gun away he leapt off the stage and make a quick exit through the shrubbery that resided across from the stage. Relena shook her head placing her hand upon her forehead and elbow onto the podium before dismissing everyone in the crowd ordering them to go back to their homes, they listened hesitantly but left eventually in a slow manner.
Lady Une will not like this, She thought to herself stepping away from the podium. Relena walked over to Jin quickly before noticing that Heero had vanished from sight. Where did he go? Relena's eyes darted from left to right for any sign of the stoic Japanese character she knew as Heero but could find nothing, not even a shadow. Her spirits fell but managed to keep up a calm appearance as she placed a hand on Jin's shoulder, the young man looked up at her with sorrow in his eyes. "I didn't mean to kill her," He whispered whipping his face. Relena pulled the young man into a hug and he accepted it gratefully hiding his face into her chest, she ran her fingers through his hair slowly feeling the rapid beat of his heart.
Zechs relaxed himself motioning to the other Preventers stationed in different sides of the stage to lower their weapons, they did as were told but remained in their places incase someone else decided to pop up. The long haired blonde looked to Noin; she was watching the scene between his sister and the Orphan boy with a sort of longing in her eyes, it was a uncomfortable feeling for Zechs to say the least knowing exactly what she was thinking in the back of her mind. He cleared his throat quite loudly managing to pull the 22-year-old woman out of her trance. Noin blushed slightly and turned to Zechs who appeared annoyed at that particular moment, she smiled slightly closing the space between them. "Sorry I kinda spaced out," She said dreamily. Zechs' eyebrows narrowed slightly at her open behavior and nodded rigidly gesturing to the other Preventers behind them, Noin looked behind her at the men.
They all looked the other way clearing their throats or pretending to admire the headlights they stood beside, Noin scowled shaking her head; they acted like they had never seen two people romantically involved before. But then she remembered none of them had seen her and Zechs act romantically involved with each other and realized her mistake, she looked at Zechs with an apologetic expression which was rewarded with a kiss upon the lips. "Your forgiven," He said briefly before walking towards his sister. Noin watched with a red face as he left her side to go to his sister. Noin wouldn't say it aloud but she was glad that she was one to have him by her side.
(January 3d A.C. 200; War memorial cemetery; 7:00AM):
Wind rolled through the cemetery of those who died in the great war, the fog that settled around the tombstones and statues began to retreat into the shadows as the sunlight peeked through the clouds welcoming the new day, however the sun had yet to reach the cemetery. The graveyard remained empty almost all the time although it had its share of visitors ---- family members of dead soldiers and victims of war, but today it was nothing more than a empty grave save for one living body that occupied a space somewhere inside the cemetery.
Standing in front of the tombstone and resting place of Rei and Taku Toshino was their son Jin, he remained the less than stellar person he was on New years eve when he came face to face with Margaret's son Katsuya. He wore a black turtle neck underneath his peacoat, the pair of jeans he bought from the store, a hat given to him by Relena, a pair of gloves and a scarf tied around his neck. The 13-year-old stared down solemnly at the tombstone. He found himself unable to cry at the sight of it any longer. He kneeled down and placed the bouquet of flowers onto the snowy ground he stood on and remained in that position.
Jin traced the grooves upon the stone that spelled his father's name, his finger tips tingled as though they had actually brushed up against the actual body of his father. A blurry image of a man standing over him hugging him close to his body, smiling at him played in his mind. It felt like a worn picture he had held one time and was now nothing but a blotch on a piece of smooth paper, swallowing Jin retracted his hand balling it into a fist. He wasn't sure if he could even trust his voice to speak, he had slowly been getting over the past events of A.C. 199. Jin had willingly made himself silent for the first two days of the new year which bothered Relena to no end. Jin knew all she wanted was for him to just tell her what was on his mind but at the moment he found himself unable to speak about anything; the guilt of killing Margaret was still eating him up inside. Talking down at him. Swallowing he opened his mouth.
"H-hi," He croaked, his throat felt so dry. "I-I came to visit you again... mom and dad." There was an awkward pause from the young man, the silence he knew he would be receiving from the tombstone of his mother and father's grave made him wish they could come down from wherever high and mighty place they went to and speak to him. It would be much easier on his expectancy. "I. . . I'm not sure what to say to dead people... dead parents. I can't remember much if you don't already know. But Miss Relena is taking care of me now; she's even thought about adopting me for good."
He paused again swallowing against a lump that had been forming in his throat, he formed a wavering smile that fought against the trembling of his lips. "I... I really miss you, even though I can't remember that much about you. I've been doing my best to move on and to tell you the truth coming here helps me do that. It doesn't hurt that much to think about you anymore... I mean there's a little sting but its not so big now. I made a lot of new friends. You would like them, especially Heero. He's the one that helped me out through all this, my grief."
Jin stood up whipping his face upon feeling the icy breeze brush against his face like a soft hand, he looked around and found that no one besides himself was in the cemetery yet, Jin exhaled deeply before resting his eyes upon the tombstone for a final time. He still had to get ready for his first day of school at St. Gabriel, Jin had an feeling he would be seeing Mariemaia again to his great delight. A smile spread across his face at the thought of the 10-year-old, someone he knew would make everything feel right again.
Scratching the back of his neck he kneeled one more time and traced the name of his mother and envisioned her face, though he could not make out the face all that well but he knew it was her. Smiling at him and caressing his face with her thumb. He shuddered at the imaginary sensation of her thumb brushing against his skin. Groaning he arose from his position and turned away from the grave spot, he trudged through the snow with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Mariemaia would probably strangle him the moment he got within two feet her of her or she would probably hug him like the all the other times, running his tongue across his teeth for no particular reason Jin picked up his pace and headed toward the gate.
(St. Gabriel):
Mariemaia strode down the crowded halls that were beginning to thin out as all the students of St. Gabriel entered their respective classes through the large double door ways, she spotted Dido ahead of her looking just as happy as she had seen her before she brought the question of her dance lessons up, the orange-red haired girl moved up over to the her and waved. Dido jumped slightly at the sight of the younger girl but managed to muster a smile just for her friend. "Good morning," Dido sighed brushing her blue hair out of her face. "Yes, it's a very good morning," Mariemaia replied happily as they entered the large class room. Dido smiled again only this time it showed the hesitation she was feeling towards her young friend; the moment she spotted Mariemaia beside her she knew the 'dancing lessons' issue would probably be on the top of her list. Dido just wanted to move on and forget it had ever happened, she had found her place in art class sculpting statues of people that modeled for her.
She had yet to tell Mariemaia about it but she hoped her friend would approve of it and not ruin the excited feeling she was withholding until she told her. "So what are you doing this year?" Mariemaia asked. Dido shrugged as the two of them climbed up the stairs behind all the other students, she spotted their desks had been moved a step up above two desks; one she recognized as Jin's because of the Korean symbols doodled onto the back of the chair, the other one she did not recognize and thus she assumed it was a new one. Mariemaia stepped out of the way and let Dido scoot past her, then sit down at her desk while Dido rummaged through hers obviously searching for her pencils that she had accidently left inside the desk before heading off to enjoy her winter break.
Mariemaia brushed her lengthening hair behind her ear; Une had styled in the same semi-short haired style but left some length to it, her bangs had to be pined back by a hair clip due to their sudden growth spurt over the years despite the current clippings Lady Une had given her. Her pale blue eyes scanned every male student body as they settled down at their desks, all that her mind thought was if Jin would arrive or remain absent from her life. Her hello kitty pen that she held in her hand tapped against her tex books as the last bout of students came flowing through the door frame followed by the Nun that would be teaching them. Her hopes began to fall like a heavy stone in the ocean when she spotted the ends of wild spiked bangs that peered over to the open door, Mariemaia's breath was caught in her throat when the tall figure of Jin Toshino entered her line of sight, he carried a backpack upon his back and wore his school uniform that looked a bit wrinkled in places.
Dido followed her line of sight and her eyes fell upon the sight of the young Korean teenager, she just smiled knowing that her problems would have been put on the back burner now because of that boy. "Mr. Toshino, I expect you come in for class in an unwrinkled uniform next time," Came the haughty voice of the Nun. "And your hair done as well." Jin reached up self-consciously and touched the end of his uniform's unbuttoned shirt then his ruffled hair that was once straight until he pulled his half-buttoned dress shirt over his head (forgetting that it could be unbuttoned, he was in such a hurry).
With a stiff bow he apologized for his appearance and headed up the stairs toward his assigned desk, he kept his gaze on his desk away from Mariemaia unsure of the reaction he would get if he looked up at her. "Oh and by the way Mr. Toshino?" The Nun started. Jin began to turn his eyes had a brief contact with Mariemaia's and he flinched on response, once he faced the Nun he watched as she raised her hand toward the still open door. "You have a desk partner . . . please come inside Mr. Katsuya." Jin's pupil's dilated when he heard the name fall from the Nun's lips, he watched with racing heart as Katsuya Cypher entered the class room looking just as dead as he once looked when he first arrived to this school.
Dear God, He thought. Katsuya glanced up at the wide-eyed expression of the Korean teenager frozen in his place, he smiled and waved in a hesitant way upon hearing the murmurs of students, clearing his throat nervously he parted his lips. "M-my name is Katsuya Cypher. Hopefully it'll be a pleasure to be in the company of you all while I'm here," He announced kindly. Mariemaia arched her eyebrow up in question as the nun directed the young man toward the spot where Jin resided, she watched her braided-friend remove himself from his stupor before making his way over to the desk he was residing in just as Katsuya ran up the stairs at a brisk pace holding a book in his grasp. Jin sat himself in his desk that resided close to the stairs he swallowed roughly when Katsuya scooted past him, he groaned when his torso began to throb from the pressure that was being applied to it from his hand clutching it on simple impulse.
The world around him had suddenly vanished as scenes from incident on their so-called winter break trip came rushing back to him, he lowered his head and placed his fingers upon his forehead messaging it in an attempt to rid himself of the sudden headache that attacked him. "Mr. Toshino, is there something bothering you?" Jin looked up through the spaces of his fingers at the nun who gave him a look of sheer annoyance indicating that she was probably speaking to him and he was he too wrapped up in his pain to notice. "N-no," He stuttered weakly. "Just a headache, it'll pass." The nun stared at him for a few minutes before returning to the subject she was briefing the students on, Jin groaned, sitting up in his chair.
He flinched when he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder, Jin turned abruptly causing Mariemaia to withdraw her hand quickly in fear that she had done something wrong, the sheer panic and confusion she saw reflecting in the boy's onyx blue eyes and smiled kindly extending her hand once again. Jin carefully reached up without drawing attention to himself then placed her hand back on her desk and returned his attention back to the speaking nun. Katsuya glanced at the tense young man sitting beside him with, he looked down at the desk at Jin's hands. They were still surprisingly but harbored several long scars across the back of them almost like a dog had attacked him, it was the same with his wrists. It Katsuya didn't know any better, the teenager was cutting himself.
Jin looked up at the 13-year-old through his mess of his bangs glaring at the young man beside him, he followed the young man's line of sight down to his hands. He would've spoken but the last thing he needed was his headache intensified by a lecture from a nun, a nun he did not know nor care to listen to except for the sake of his education. Jin averted his gaze back to the woman standing upon the stage in front of the podium below the students ignoring Katsuya's nervous eyes. He had better things to do than bother him. Would apologizing to him, be on that list? Came a voice inside of him. Jin closed his eyes tightly blocking out the image of a grinning Margaret. Shut up, he snapped mentally.
During Lunch, Mariemaia found herself unable to sit with Dido while she explained with enthusiasm about her new art class and her untapped potential when it came to sculpting nude figures since she really didn't have the fully clothed sculpting down just yet. Mariemaia nodded every once in awhile but couldn't bring herself to listen to every word that came out of Dido's mouth her thoughts kept drifting off to Jin and his whereabouts. Since they had gotten out of class Jin had left abruptly without a word spoken to her or anyone else for that matter, especially the new student, Mariemaia found herself unable to find Jin among the crowd of students that flooded out into the halls.
So while Dido was talking about her new class Mariemaia scanned the area of the balcony for any signs of Jin at all, but with all the young teenage males with spiked hair that could very well match or rival the Korean's tousled hair it was hard for her to even pinpoint a recognizable facial expression among them. Sighing the 10-year-old rose from the chair, she sat in causing Dido to pause. "Erm... Mariemaia?" Dido uttered confused. Mariemaia looked to her friend with an apologetic smile, straightening out of her dress she blurted out a quick 'excuse me' and headed across the balcony away from the frame of the door way where the table Dido and herself resided, Dido rolled her in exasperation suddenly wishing that she had other friends beside Mariemaia (not that the young girl was a horrible friend), she wished that she had someone to talk to about her new art class. Keeping the excitement about it was killing her.
Mariemaia sighed as she scooted past every chair that was out farther than it should've been, she had gotten two scratches already because of those dammed chairs. The wind was still chilly it made her wonder why she didn't wear her jacket out to enjoy her already cold lunch that resided with Dido still, she snow beneath her school shoes felt as though they soaked through the soles sending cool chills up her legs through her spine and every other part of her body. She wondered how Jin would react to her if he was where she hoped he would be, he seemed too happy to see her before the new student came into the room and obviously spooked him. Being someone who knew very little about him Mariemaia figured the best thing he needed was space, breathing room for lack of a better word, but breathing room was something Mariemaia was far too acquainted with and thus decided to rescue Jin from his fortitude of silence before it drove the sanity from his very soul.
As she made her way over to the corner Mariemaia noticed, she had an odd feeling rising up inside of her the closer she got to the corner, she hadn't seen Jin in so long she wasn't sure if he even considered her his friend any longer. Being a girl with no friends for most of her natural young life until she came to St. Gabriel, rejection of friendship was something she was used too but the sting of the rejection never got any smaller and it didn't help her situation mentally any either. So much resentment as well as rejection will not do her well if it continued on through her teenage years. Placing a hand on the edge of the corner Mariemaia exhaled in an attempt to get rid of the pain in her chest that seemed to fall directly into the pit of her stomach, swallowing roughly the girl stepped out from behind the wall and gazed upon the skinny figure of Jin sitting on the thick stone balcony wall with his back against the foundation of the building behind him.
In his hand laid an open book which he was reading with such intent it was hard to believe that Jin found the time to do anything else besides obsess over his dead parents . . . if at all. Her eyebrows furrowed when she spotted something different on his face, stepping forward slightly she leaned in to get a better look at his face that was almost obscured by the long bangs hanging in his face. Upon his nose rested a pair of small round glasses with a maroon tint to them, Mariemaia took note that they showed off Jin's pointy nose and his onyx blue eyes a little more to her great delight, she began to think that he looked cute in them.
Of course this thought was stopped abruptly when his sharp gaze looked away from the words inside the book right at her. Mariemaia made a yelping sound bringing her hands behind her. Jin lifted his head up a bit letting the breeze break sweep through his bangs causing them to sway wildly back and forth, he closed the pocket sized book and placed into his vest with a slight grunt. "How are you Jin?" Mariemaia asked gesturing to the glasses. Jin's eyebrows raised in question as he removed the glasses from his face placing them into the same pocket of his vest where the book resided, he pulled his legs up onto the wall bringing his knees up closer to him then draped his arms over them. "My eyes have been bothering me lately, so Relena got me a pair of glasses," He replied dryly.
There was a moment of silence, Mariemaia felt as though she had nothing to say to him but the head-gesture from Jin meant that he wanted her company so she began to formulate a way to conjure up a good conversation with him before he left in another one of his brooding moods. She scooted up onto the wall moving closer to Jin careful to keep some space between in fear that she would knock him over to the side sending him to his untimely death. Mariemaia smiled nervously tucking her hair behind her ear. She had no idea that Jin had been staying with Relena Darlain the entire time he had gone missing willingly, she had been worried that he was somewhere on the street dying, but to her surprise he was staying with the most loved woman in the entire Earth Sphere and colonies alike.
Jin watched her with curious eyes as always unable to keep a smile he had been hiding inside of him concealed any longer. "I see your hair got longer," He said causally pointing her bangs. Mariemaia nodded tapping her fingers against her shoulder. "Lady Une has been having a hard time keeping it under control," She said hesitantly. Jin nodded shifting his sight out to the white frozen world below him, he had a feeling it would snow soon and the last thing he wanted was to be snowed on, he scratched his knee absent-mindedly almost forgetting that he company before Mariemaia spoke again. "Did you find what you were looking for?" Mariemaia asked quietly. Jin shrugged slightly feeling his body go rigid at the memory of all that he had gone through up this point, it was uncomfortable to think about to be completely honest with himself and it wasn't something he felt he should discuss with Mariemaia at that point since he was still recovering from it all.
Swallowing Jin reached up to scratch the back of his neck, the loose hairs of his braid had been tickling him for some time now, he had managed to ignore it before Mariemaia came into his line of sight. "Yes, no--- it's not something I wanna talk about," Jin grumbled wearily. Mariemaia's head lowered at these words sensing the uneasiness in his voice while she did her best to smother the emotion of feeling in her stomach, it was hard enough that he hardly spoke at all Mariemaia found it hard not to yell at him for being so secretive about everything. Groaning the girl pulled at her ruffled sleeves hoping Jin couldn't see past her smiling facade. "I know you feel--- angry Mariemaia--- but just give me time. I don't plan on keeping this to myself forever," He spoke up breaking the uncomfortable silence that had befallen the two of them.
Mariemaia gave Jin a look wondering if he was telling her the truth or not, it was hard to tell with the deadpan expression Jin had reflected onto his eyes hiding all traces of emotion. Sighing Mariemaia nodded half-heartedly hoping off the wall in hopes that a good walk before returning to the inside of the building and school would do her some good but to leave Jin alone on such terms was her obvious anger toward him for not telling her anything during his disappearance would leave her feeling guilty later on. Turning around she looked at Jin who happened to be doing the same (looking at her). Mariemaia gave him a genuine smile and reached into her pocket, Jin watched her with a sort of happiness he had only experienced in dreams until he saw something hanging between her fingers.
Jin arched an eyebrow before the orange-red haired girl tossed it in his direction, he caught it with ease making sure he had a firm grip on it. Bringing his hand from over the open space of the world below him he opened his hand and gazed upon the necklace that belonged to his mother, he looked up expecting to find the daughter of Treize standing across from him but instead found her leant up against the wall with her hands intertwined with each other laid against her legs hidden under her school dress, he swallowed roughly when his eyes met hers. "I thought you might want it back since you're alive," She replied. "I'm glad your back Jin." Jin grinned shakily placing the pendant into his pants pocket feeling as though he could hold onto it forever.
Me too Mariemaia, is what he wanted to say to her but he couldn't find the heart or courage to will himself to speak; for some reason he felt she knew just a grin from him was enough to express to her his agreement. He watched Mariemaia walk off and vanish around the corner just as the school bell rang loudly. Getting a hold of himself Jin pulled the pendant out of his pocket, unhooking the object that held the chain together he placed it around his neck and recooked it. His finger brushed the pendant with fondness, he watched the other children at the end of the balcony rise from their respective tables picking up their books and hurrying to join up with the crowd forming up at the entrance to the school.
Jin averted his eyes upward at the sky studying the clouds that shrouded the entire sky, he wondered where the sunlight that had greeted him outside of the cemetery had gone off to. He frowned when he felt a harsh heated gust of wind flow down in his direction causing his already tousled hair to blow violently in its grasp. He looked around discovering that he wasn't the only one experiencing usual temperature in the wind. Jin's eyes darted let to right at the trees that swayed in the wind blowing the snow off their branches, he continued to look around until he caught sight of the machine he believed to have been destroyed by Lady Une. "It can't be . . . ," He uttered in sheer disbelief when the machine landed down below amongst the trees.
Lady Une groaned as she sorted through her personal filing cabinet searching for the package Noin had given her a few days after the incident at the Sanc Kingdom institute, it had been addressed to her but the contents she saw inside them when opened it was obviously not something that belonged to her. Swallowing a piece of gum she had been chewing for the last hour Une closed the top drawer before heading down to the middle drawer, she opened the drawer and swiftly began to look through the alphabetically ordered files that started from 'I' all the way the down middle section where the 'J' section was located.
In the back of her mind as she searched the J files Une felt a great swell of relief at the behavior her daughter was displaying when she went to awaken her from her slumber. Mariemaia had looked up at her with a smile on her face as well as sparkle in her eyes and immediately decided that hugging the German 22-year-old was the best way to start off her morning. Une being concerned about her well-being had no qualms about this hug she received from her daughter and sent the girl quickly on her way after pulling her out of the bed. The two of them had a surprisingly conversational breakfast before Une dropped her off at school and headed for Preventers HQ. Une was unaware of the source of this happiness that stemmed inside of Mariemaia but she wouldn't question it until it showed something that concerned her, namely teenage orphan boys.
"Ah-ha," She whispered pulling the package that had been jammed into the 'J' section out of the drawer. Slamming it shut, Lady Une made her way over to her desk humming a tune to herself, she sat down in her leather chair and placed the package onto the pile of papers on her desk and leaned back. Her taught muscles began to relax as she continued to hum the dreamy tune to herself making herself forget all about her troubles as well as the world around her. The brown-haired woman was almost in a state of a slumber within her serenity when a high-pitched ringing emitting from her office phone snapped her out of peaceful state of mind throwing her right back into the brunt of her troubles and tensity. Groaning she reached over and picked up the phone off its cradle bringing it up to her ear. "Yes what is it?" She asked haughtily.
"Lady Une, ma'am, we have some troubling news," Came the slightly clam voice of Nichol. What could it be this time? Une thought as she sat up in her chain leaning closer to the desk, unconsciously bracing herself for whatever came out of former OZ solider Preventer Nichol's mouth. "Ugh- the 80 completed Wing Zero Lady...?" He paused, Une believed him to be swallowing down some sort of nervousness that resided in him. "Yes, what about it?" Une said impatiently. "We've completed most of our tasks in melting down the Mobile suits, but ugh-- just as we were heading to the same to the Wing Zero, it activated on its own and kinda--- flew out of the mobile suit hangar," Nichol finished uneasily. Une's eyes widened with range as her fingers gripped the phone like a vice on a human skull, she shot up from her seat.
"It did what?" She exclaimed in both anger and disbelief. "Lt. --- Preventer Nichol, you do realize that mobile suit does not have a mobile doll system installed in it?" There was a small 'yes' from the man on the other line, Une began to believe that all this pint up anger was not a good thing for her heart. "So how, is it doing what you say its doing!" Nichol explained that he did not know but what he did know was that the supposed direction the Wing Zero was headed was somewhere in the Sanc Kingdom's area and there was also some more disturbing news he had yet to tell her. Une's eyes felt as though they would fall out of her head, feeling dizzy she fell back into her seat clutching the arm of it with dear life.
"What is it now, Nichol?" She whispered hoarsely. "Eriol has just come back from the radar room; they say there has been an unusually large object heading toward the earth. They didn't think of it as anything but a malfunction in the machinery but they confirmed just an hour ago that the --- you'll laugh at this--- the L1-330PX9909 colony is just five hours away from colliding with earth. Space satellites' detect no living life forms on the colony and await your orders . . . ," He finished. Une's mouth twitched in annoyance at this news, especially at the last words that spewed from Nichol's mouth.
They awaited her orders, as long as they had been warding off potential wars, terrorists, and colony related dangers alike she'd think that they would learn that her orders would be quite obvious. "Destroy L1330PX9909," Une replied darkly. "Yes, ma'am," Nichol replied. The 22-year-old slammed the phone back onto its cradle doing her best to control her temper while fighting off the urge to toss her chair through the window in spite of it. Yet another problem had arrived and they weren't a week into the new year, how fitting that the Wing Zero decided to grow a mind of its own and leave the Preventers's mobile suit Hangar, there was no telling what the mobile suit was up to but at the moment she didn't care: she was more worried about the colony. Why now on our happy beginning?
Jin felt his heart jump into his throat at the sight of Wing Zero descending down into the trees, his arms trembled violently at the memory of what it had done to him, he groaned sliding off the edge of the wall holding his stomach. He felt sick all over again as the image of its wicked jade eyes coming to life at the same time it messed with his mind. Jin clutched his head when it began to throb. It was like the machine was calling out to him, beckoning him to jump from all the wall: the feeling was so intoxicating Jin felt as though he was beginning to lose that small part of humanity he had clung onto to all this time, gagging he pulled himself up onto the wall and over its edge. He began to fall head first over the building expecting to plummeting fast toward the ground a single thought on the sweet unwanted oblivion that awaited on the ground before his body with the hard gundanium hand of Zero, Jin curled himself up into a ball as he felt the mobile suit's hand moving toward its large body.
He would not allow himself to be controlled by that dammed machine anymore. He refused to allow himself to succumb to the Gundam's power hungry system. He grunted when the moving of Zero's arm's stopped Jin looked up above his arm and found himself staring into the dark entrance that was the cockpit, pulling himself up into a defensive position he averted his gaze up at Zero's face. Though it showed no emotions, naturally, there was something about its demeanor that showed no harmful intentions toward him. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion when the cockpit began illuminate, he felt Wing Zero's thumb nudge him gently toward the entrance, Jin felt the fear ebbing away and felt he had no reason besides the obvious ones to mistrust this strange angelic mobile suit.
As he began to climb toward the platform the sudden and rapid approach of footfalls followed by a gasp caused him to stop and look up. There, leaning over the edge of a wall of the St. Gabriel building was Mariemaia Kushrenada herself looking just as afraid as he was when he saw Zero. "Jin, get off that Mobile suit!" She cried, horrified. "I though we've all gotten over this!" Jin looked at her with same amounts of fear that reflected in both their eyes knowing where she was coming from, she knew he had been injured because of this Mobile suit and feared that he would not return for a third time, but something told him he had to go.
"Mariemaia, I've got no time to explain all this to you right now, but I promise I'll come back," He shouted back to her. Mariemaia watched with watering eyes as he entered the mobile suit, Wing Zero's cockpit doors closed and it turned its back to the girl watching from above. Mariemaia shrank back when the gust of hot hair emitting from white metallic wings hidden boosters watching through squinted eyes as it launched into the air at such a tremendous speed, its form getting small with each passing minute. Tears fell down her cheeks as she watched the small speck vanish through the clouds, taking her dear friend with it. Bitting the edge of her lip Mariemaia remained where she was.
Jin swallowed hard as he tired to get a grip on himself as he watched the clouds vanish underneath Zero and the gray sky came into view, just above it he noticed the dark area he recognized as space from somewhere in the back of his mind. He kept his hands firm on the controls as the gray sky that surrounded him vanished and the fogged view of space replaced it, he stared at the right view screen as cockpit system analyzed all possible enemies in the area and came up with a schematic image of a colony not too far from their approach now. Jin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he zoomed in on the image of the colony moving at a considerably fast rate toward him and the Wing Zero.
What did Zero expect him to do about this colony, he highly doubted that he could stop its approach with a blast from its beam cannot let alone the self-destruct device ----- he groaned when he felt a stabbing pain in the back of his head. He shut his eyes tightly. Jin hunched over in pain as he felt the Zero System seeping slowly, painfully into his mind taking over all of its functions. Dammit Zero, stop it! I'm not Heero. I can't withstand this system. Stop i-t-- Jin's eyes snapped open wide with fear--- betrayal before their human aspect was replaced with a dead and emotionless expression, his eyes glowed yellow.
He sat back up leaning up against the chair. "Acknowledged. Colony L1-330PX9909 recognized as a threat to the earth sphere," Jin spoke mechanically. "Data checked. Commencing destruction." Wing Zero reached behind itself and grasped its Buster rifle bringing the weapon in front of itself, Jin narrowed his eye as he watched the targeting system enlarged itself locking onto the colony's mass. As he readied himself to fire the beam cannon there was an alert of an approaching object from the left, Jin shifted his eyes toward the left as the camera zoomed it on the approaching object. "White Taurus mobile doll; place of origin Colony L1-330PX9909," Jin announced. Wing Zero shifted its beam cannon onto the approaching Taurus mobile doll, once locked onto its target it fired on the mobile doll only have its attacks dodged without any problems by the Taurus.
Jin's eyebrows narrowed in anger when a video image appeared on the main screen, his nerves were only further wrecked when the image of a woman he thought to have killed appeared before smiling in her normal wicked manner. "Hello, Jin. Don't look so surprised, I'm dead, this is just a recording I left for you in the unfortunate event that I met an untimely demise at the hands of you're or anyone else. The colony you see before you is a little back-up plan incase plan-A didn't work. Mind you, its stupid, If I'm dead then that Means my employer has been caught by this time, but my employer told me that this colony was to be used to get back earth for stealing the governmental position that was rightfully hers. I made no sense to me at all, in fact I told it resembled Operation M. a little too much for my liking but--- she didn't listen. I know you won't be able to stop this and the oncoming mobile dolls that reside inside that colony, so I bid you a quick and painless death. I love you, Nephew."
The small screen vanished from sight, Jin remained to appear unfazed by the prerecorded message addressed to him and pushed the mobile controls forward. Wing Zero rocked off toward the colony at half of its speed, Jin's hands gripped the controls as he felt the perspiration developing underneath his palms. Despite the fact that he was under the influence of the Zero system there was a part of him that told him that Taurus mobile doll would give him trouble, especially if there were more of them inside the colony. There was momentary bleeping from Zero's cockpit system as the Vulcan cannons were activated and standing by, Jin felt the Zero system downloading the battle scenarios and strategy into his mind. Taking a moment to soak the information in Jin turned the mobile suit toward the now fast approaching Taurus mobile doll.
"Mission accepted. Preparing to destroy Taurus mobile doll," He state pressing his thumbs against the buttons that resided on the ends of the handles for the controls. The Vulcan cannons fired on the Taurus MD, the suit dodged it like Jin/Zero had expected to and he continued to fire it until it was within range of the colony, by this time the Vulcan cannons were low on ammo. Zero reached up as its beam saber ejected itself from its hiding place within the mobile suit's shoulder and pulled it out, the saber ignited from the simple squeeze of Zero's hand. Wing rocketed forward with incredible speed. The Taurus mobile doll had no time to react to the quick and sudden movement of the Gundam; it was rendered motionless upon the sensation (if such a thing is possible) of Zero's beam saber slicing through its torso. In that moment time was suspended animation, sparks danced around the severed parts of the Taurus still hot from being cut by the beam saber before it was swallowed in the explosion of its body.
Zero hovered in front of the wall of the colony, drawing back his arm the Gundam thrust the beam saber into the wall and cut through the metallic structure upward from there. Zero shimmied its hands through the sever it created and shoved the two walls apart with very little exertion of its strength far enough to climb inside the colony, Jin flexed his arms for a moment before continuing forward into the dark simulated earth-like city of the space colony. He scanned his surrounding area noticing the area had no stability systems whatsoever, no life support and no gravity support either. At least it explained why Zero was walking as though it were lighter than should've been despite the fact that it had a stability system of it's own installed inside its system.
Jin began to wonder if this was how his colony looked like before it was supposedly destroyed by Margaret, the buildings despite the darkness of the area looked just like they would on earth. However, just wondering what his life was like on the colony gave him a major headache. Rubbing the side of his head, Jin used the mapping system and located the power source on the lower level. Surprisingly, it was still functioning even though everything from what he could see was not. "Target located," He couldn't waste time admiring the scenery though, ZERO had a job to do. The mobile suit launched itself through the narrow road ways of the colony until he reached the mobile suit maintenance elevator, bringing in Zero's wings closer to its body Jin armed the Gundam with its Buster rifle once more once he returned the beam saber back into its compartment inside Zero's shoulder. With one swift blast from the buster rifle the elevator door was gone within minutes leaving a clean entrance for Wing Zero to enter in through.
Jin's face remained unmoved by emotion as it moved the Gundam toward the elevator door, once the Gundam's feet were teetering over the edge Jin stared down at the seemingly endless shaft until he spotted a glimmer of light somewhere down below. He moved forward allowing the Gundam to plummet downward for what he thought was going to be a relatively easy mission; destroy the power source and pray it will take the entire colony along with it. Zero landed atop the elevator shaft causing the boxlike object to jerk uncomfortable beneath it Jin ignored it proceeding to enter through the elevator itself. Zero drew its first back then rammed it right through the elevator's top, placing both its hands upon the opening it made Zero tore through the metal without incident creating a hole big enough for it to go through, Zero leapt down the hole its boosters on full blast. It blasted through the door without remorse before landing clumsily a few feet away from the power system.
Jin examined every aspect of the Gundam's weaponry; forty percent of the Gundam's ammo was all that was left, the beam cannon was still in perfect condition as was its body, the beam saber was also untouched. With any luck he would destroy the colony without killing (or injuring) himself, an unconscious grin arose upon his face as he moved toward the large column-shaped object that was the power source of the entire colony. Wing Zero armed himself with the buster rifle targeting its objective only to be bombarded by a shower of low grade beam cannon fire and Vulcan cannon fire. Before he or Zero knew it, they were bombarded by at least nine Taurus mobile dolls, they attacked the frame of the Gundam with lightening reflexes one at a time, slashing either its nearly indestructible armor or firing at it with their machine guns. The Gundam found itself overwhelmed as it tried to fend off every Taurus that came at it, Zero felts its legs buckle when two Taurus' came at it from behind temporarily dazing the pilot. They continued to attack as Jin's eyes darted from left to right as Zero began to download all the acquired dated on the locations of their enemies. He felt nauseous as he found himself overwhelmed by all the information that was thrown at him all at once. Jin suddenly found himself in control of his body and mind again, he looked around unsure of where he was until he heard the all too familiar bleeping noises from the cockpit system of Zero above him.
Jin averted his eyes upward before the stabbing pain in his head returned, he clutched the sides of his head as the pain intensified. Jin glared at the machine. "Stop it! Don't to that! Stop it Zero!" Should he had taken Mariemaia's advice and removed himself from the Gundam? At that particular moment it certainly felt that way, Zero continued to pump his mind full of all the battle data it had on the enemy overwhelming the young man considerably. Jin felt as though he had a splitting headache and despite his efforts to block out the invading machine Jin found himself too over worked to do much of anything, his eyes widened upon the image of the attacking enemy (Taurus mobile dolls) was replaced by a black background and green zeros and ones.
Jin felt as though his will and soul had been shoved somewhere into the back of his mind allowing the ZERO system to take his place. He could hear himself growling in an inhumane way, "Where is he? Where is my enemy?" It was like a surreal dream to the young man. Zero raised its arm as it charged at the two Taurus mobile dolls activating its beam cannon; it would destroy the entire colony without trouble, powering up its beam cannon Zero fired its weapon and destroyed the two attacking mobile suits. The beam ripped through the colony interior creating a suction that would've pulled a human to its death, however, Zero remained unfazed as he turned its still firing beam cannon at the other attacking mobile dolls until its beam hit the power source of the colony.
The cylinder type object was swallowed in fire of the explosion, the blast disintegrated the mobile dolls within its reach while others managed to escape through the passage Zero had made. Jin grunted at the shock wave when it hit Wing Zero full on, momentarily dazed he turned the Zero around rocketing toward the wall behind it. The second blast, however sent the Gundam off kilter and clumsily slamming into the wall. Jin felt his forehead make contact with the screen, as his shaky hands pressed a few buttons, he grunted involuntarily at the sudden rise of temperature inside the cockpit just as the alarms began to Blair in his ears. Jin jerked unconsciously at the strange feeling of release, the world around him came rushing back to him indicating he had been put back in control of his mind. Groggily he stared at the blinking warnings on the bloodied screen in front of him.
Danger. Temperature reaching critical status, Buster Cannon damaged, only 70 percent functional. 87 percent of Colony L1-330PX9909 destroyed. Preparing to enter the atmosphere. Jin's eyes widened at the warning, how did the Wing Zero know he the exact name of the colony? Pulling himself up in his seat Jin fought to get control of Wing Zero who surprisingly found itself unsafely plummeting back to earth without the protection of its atmosphere reentry shielding of its Wings, upside down. Drawing back on the controls, Jin brought Zero back into an upright position toward the colony that had also entered the atmosphere along with him.
He knew it wouldn't be long before they left the reentry and entered Earth completely, so he couldn't waste time worrying about the functioning of Wing Zero or his survival, swallowing Jin moved the controls upward slightly. The targeting system activated overlapping the warning signs. Jin grunted at the vibrations from Wing Zero that shook his entire body, he swallowed as he squinted his eyes on the ever moving target locator, it wouldn't be long now. Jin's hand trembled as he focused his entire mind on the task before him, he had to stop the colony before it hit Earth. Upon the moment Jin gripped the controls tighter than he would've thought possible he felt something grab his wrist, he was thrown into a forgotten memory.
A six-year-old Jin patted his feet against the splashing waves that hit the shore, he wondered how the colony was able to mimic real tides and the ocean, though only it as a man-made lake. His wild damp long chestnut brown hair stuck to the back of his neck and the front of his shirt. His bangs were slicked back onto the top of his head to keep the water out of his sensitive eyes. He scratched at his bottom beginning to feel the sand seeping its way into his underwear, groaning the young man picked up his bucket of seashells and headed toward Margaret who patiently awaited him atop the grassy hill above from the beach. She wore a blouse and a pair of short jeans, appearing to look very out of place in her own time line, her thick red hair was pulled back into a pony tail revealing the scar on her face. Her brown eyes danced with amusement when Jin finally made up to the top of the hill, too tired out to greet her with all the energy he once had. "-Hi auntie," He yawned.
Margaret's smile grew even wider when he showed her the sea shells he found in the water, he looked up at her with his large onyx blue eyes and dropped his bucket onto the ground beside him. Margaret knew exactly what he wanted, kneeling down to his level she let him jump into her arms and embrace her with all his strength. "Oh-- my little monster," She giggled making farting noises against his neck. Jin laughed, carefree and happy. Margaret spun him around for a little while before stopping consumed by dizziness, her sandals slipped off her toes when she hit the ground unintentionally. Jin tensed up at the sound of Margaret's laughter, it wasn't like his auntie to laugh at herself, she laughed when it was his mommy or Daddy falling down or burning dinner but never at herself. "Are you all right, Auntie?" He asked worriedly.
Margaret pulled him away from her shoulder staring at him with a confused expression. "Of course-- I'm just happy that you're happy," Margaret replied. Jin just looked confused. Sighing Margaret settled him on her lap, throwing her hair back behind her she raised her arm that wasn't holding Jin and pointed at the simulated ocean. "See that Jin?" She asked looking at him. "Uh-huh," He replied quickly. "Well, one day, your mother is going to take you to earth to see the real Ocean and it'll be just as pretty only with more beauty. And when she does we'll play around in the sand, and pick up as many Seashells as you want. Maybe even have ice-cream too, the kind that isn't a soy product," Margaret stated grinning. Jin's skin and stomach was sensitive to Cows milk, so his mother switched and put on Soy milk. It wasn't easy for the little boy at first but he eventually had gotten used to it.
"Really?" He asked happily. Margaret nodded slowly pulling him into a hug. Jin hugged her back his mind still on the wondrous description of his going to earth with his parents and his auntie. They remained like that for the longest time until the sun began to dim, Margaret felt a swell of sorrow wash over her. "Jin, promise me something," She whispered in his ear. Jin looked at her with his large onyx blue eyes, his confusion he thought to have rid himself of earlier returning. "What is it, Auntie Margaret?" He replied quietly. Margaret stared at him with her brown eyes, the setting sun bounced off his young soft skin, giving it a radiant look. She felt as though she were going to cry in that moment. "Promise me that you'll remain the kind little boy I know, no matter what. That you'll forgive anyone who's mean to you and most importantly . . . forgive me for whatever I do," Margaret choked out. Jin smiled brightly, oblivious to the meaning of her words, she gasped when he hugged her again replying, "I promise, Auntie,"
Jin felt his breath caught in his throat when he fired the beam cannon, the weapon rattled under the force of the beam as it came blasting out of the barrel cutting its way through the atmosphere and into the colony wall and into space. Jin watched as the colony wall became illuminated with the golden light of the continuous beam cannon fire, the sheer strength of the blast destroying the remains of its inhabitable structure. Jin grunted when he was thrown backward against the seat hard enough to give him whiplash as the beam cannon exploded in Zero's arms at the same time the remains of the colony exploded, he shut his stinging eyes when the light reached him and for a moment Jin actually began to believe that he was on his way to the afterlife.
Upon the school balcony, Mariemaia watched as a bright light engulfed the skies above her flickering like a dying flame. She watched the shock wave disrupt the clouds above her sending bird's unfortunate enough to be above the clouds to fall from the sky like rag dolls. Although the inside of her felt as though it was having a panic attack Mariemaia managed to keep the outside in a relatively calm demeanor as she watched the flickering light come to a stop, her eyes watched the now clam sky like a hawk searching for its prey. Her mouth clamped shut followed by her hand pressing its fingers against her lips at what filled her sight; Wing Zero coming down from the clouds with a trail of thick smog behind it's battered and once white angelic wings. Its body was once more mangled, missing parts of its armor and parts of its arms.
The left arm was completely missing while the right hand was nearly hanging by a thread or in this case-- its wiring. Mariemaia focused her eyes upon the lower body of the Gundam as it clumsily made its way toward the balcony of the school, she stepped back once it had reached the balcony crashing against it. Mariemaia watched Zero try to flex its hand as the cockpit door was blown off its counterpart and the protective doors opened slowly, forced by the hand of the young man she had come to care about like a brother. She watched as Jin pressed his shoulder against the door until it came crashing down bringing him along with it, Mariemaia thought she would faint right then and there when she saw Jin lift his head up in her direction. His forehead was covered in moist blood that ran down past his closed left eye down to his chin, his right eye blinked at a couple of times at her before he stood up on the unstable Wing Zero.
Mariemaia looked around before walking back over to the balcony she stared at the wobbling Jin Toshino as he raised a bruised hand in her direction, it was trembling horribly and she couldn't stand to see that way, Mariemaia leaned over with a firm grip on the wall of the balcony then grasped his hand as hard as she could. Jin smiled up at her wearily as she pulled with all her might to get him over the wall of the school, he helped her as much as he trembling body would allow him to until the two of them managed to him over the edge of the wall and onto the ground. Mariemaia laid beneath him with her arms wrapped around his body as he tried to catch his escaping breath. Zero remained where it was for a moment before moving away from the school up into the sky with what little life it had left inside its systems; it continued up above the clouds until he was nearly up into the atmosphere.
Jin pulled away from Mariemaia for a moment casting his eyes skyward following the trail of smog from the beyond repair Wing Zero just as it self-destructed above illuminating the clouds for a final time. Pieces of the now destroyed Zero came raining down smothered in hot fire and In that moment when silence ruled Jin swore he felt apart of him die as well as return to the land of the living, it was a mixed emotion that only came to him when he piloted Zero. His thoughts drifted in a sort of limbo as he tried to pull himself togther after being affected by the Zero system again, unbeknownst to him an unconscious thought of Margaret at the beach watching him with a smile, a true smile on her face haunted the back of his mind. Mariemaia watched the back of him with her worried pale blue gaze as he continued to shiver like a small frightened child, swallowing roughly she walked over to the young man.
Mariemaia placed herself close beside him incase he would fall out in that time and moment but instead she found herself pulled even closer to him by Jin's own arm, she felt a bit unnerved by this simple action when he place his head upon her shoulder and wept openly in front of her. "J-Jin?" She whispered. Jin continued to cry never bothering to speak to her, he would explain everything to her later . . . right now he just needed someone living and breathing to cling onto. Because he feared that he might lose his sanity. Mariemaia slipped her arm from underneath the young man's arm and placed it atop of his head. "Come on Jin, we can go your dorm. It's nice and quite at this time of hour," She whispered leading the young man away from the balcony back into the school.
Lady Une groaned upon hearing the news of the destruction of the colony L1-330PX9909 from Nichol, she turned around to meet the stony expression of Heero Yuy and wicked expression from Duo Maxwell, both dressed in their Preventers attire, her frown deepened at their presence. The two of them had waltzed into the office without authorization questioning when they were going to be removed from their on-duty activities concerning hacking into systems of organizations that might be a potential threat to peace (Duo was at least; Heero had no qualms about his assignment). During this time, Une began to lecture them on entering offices that they were invited into when the two of them noticed the brown box she had found in her filing cabinet.
She noticed that Heero seemed to know exactly what was in it and requested that she give it to him. Une eyed the two young men afterward, wondering what they had expected from her. To hand over the package the moment saw the name that it was addressed to, on the false pretense that she knew they were going to give it to? Placing herself in her seat once more remembering to hang to the phone up, Une crossed her legs placing her intertwined fingers upon her knee. Duo and Heero remained where they stood, Heero's eyed were fixed upon Une.
Duo kept his eyes on the mainly boxed shaped package reading the name that it was addressed to over and over. "What makes' you think I'll just give you this package? It was given to me, therefore, I cannot relinquish my possession of it so easily until you give me a reason as to why you need it," Une said sternly. Duo averted his gaze to the long brown haired woman in front of them, the look he gave her made her think she knew why they wanted it so badly, but still. "Because, Relena may need it," Heero replied haughtily. "And you know exactly why." His tone was adamant and cold. Une stared at the two young men, her thoughts raced as she thought of the possibilities as well as the consequences that giving the box that lay on her desk atop her paper work. "Let's say that you knew the reason, Lady Une. For the sake of argument," Duo spoke up throwing his healing hand up into the air.
Une watched him with suspicion as he continued. "...Why we wanted you give us that package. Would you still be so hasty as to not let us have it? I mean, doesn't he have a right to know why someone would send him this?" Duo stated scratching his slung left arm. Heero nodded reluctantly in agreement. Lady Une remained silent, there was something inside of her that agreed with Duo's comment. Yes he deserved to know every little bit of 'why' the package had been addressed to him, but the problem was that she didn't know why the package was sent to the Preventers department after being suspended by the former Alliance mail route and sent back into circulation as ordered by the former President of the Earth Sphere Alliance. "Perhaps not, Duo," She replied indifferently. "But until we find out why it was suspended I cannot allow this package out of my sight." Duo groaned placing his hand upon his forehead in defeat then shifted his gaze toward Heero, who had been silent through his entire speech. Une wasn't playing around when she said no, however, Heero wasn't ready to give up just yet.
(2:39PM):
Jin sat in a bent over position upon his bed with his feet firm on the ground beneath him. His elbows rested upon his thighs while his fingers hung lifelessly in front of him he moved them only when he wanted to make sure none of his nerves were damaged from his battle, he knew Relena would have everything inside this dorm bedroom removed and taken to her mansion, naturally. He could feel it in his bones, he reached up grabbing his braid out of boredom and began to unbraid it. Behind him laid Mariemaia, who decided after taking care of his cut on his head to take a nap (with his consent) on his bed, Jin continued to unbraid his plait until he heard someone knock on his door, he averted his drowsy onyx blue eyes toward the door. "Come in," He said.
The door knob turned and Katsuya poked his head inside the bedroom wearing an uncertain expression on his face, Jin felt his head hurt all over again after getting the headache to cease. Katsuya watched Jin place a hand onto his head with a tired groan as he stepped inside the bedroom shutting the door behind him, he remained at the door just in case the 13-year-old boy decided to kick him out. Jin glared at the young red-haired teenager standing across from him, wondering what purpose he had or what pleasure he gained in going to the same school as he did. Watching him suffer, perhaps? "Hey--- Jin--- I'm sorry about my appearance at your school," Katsuya began nervously. "I know what you "might" be thinking and believe me when I say, I'm not here to start any trouble. My Dad enrolled me to this school thinking it might be a good start for me since we've moved to earth now. It's not a bad place. A little stuffy, but---." Katsuya stopped upon noticing the agitated look Jin was giving him through the fingers of his bandaged right hand, he swallowed unsure if said something wrong.
Jin watched the nervous young man closely as he began to sweat from the long uncomfortable silence that hovered between them, knowing good and well that he was afraid of him. "Aside from the fact that you may or may not know what I'm thinking Katsuya Cypher, you were the last thing on my mind," Jin replied haughtily averting his gaze toward his window. Katsuya followed the boy's line of sight confused by what he had meant and the significance of the window, groaning Katsuya scratched the back of his neck, Jin had a sort of aura about him that could make you uncomfortable he wanted to, there was no doubt about that.
But he had to at least make amends concerning his pointing at the gun at him; if there was one thing he hated, it was leaving things in a mess, particularly relations between people. Katsuya tried again. "Contrary to what you-- scratch that--! Jin I would like you to my friend," He said quickly. Jin did not move, though he was caught off guard by the simple words that came rushing out of Katsuya's mouth like a slap to the face. Jin's face contorted in slight anger; did the boy think his trust and friendship was won over so easily? Rising from his place Jin strode over to the young man closing the space between them, Katsuya swallowed his fear and stared Jin straight in the eyes with all the stubbornness and courage he had in him, Jin leaned over and grabbed the door knob.
Katsuya stepped out of the way when the door opened slightly. "I'll think about it. Now get out," He snapped throwing his half-braided plait behind his head with his unoccupied hand. Katsuya could not help but smiled at the response he got, it wasn't what he was expected, he would admit that, but it was better than a no. He nodded briefly taking a quick glance at the Korean teen's bandaged right hand. Those hands killed his mother . . . But for some reason he could not hold any type of resentment toward this man in front of him. "I'd appreciate that," Katsuya replied calmly as he stepped out of the room into the hallway. Jin was ready to close the door when he noticed Katsuya hadn't moved from his place, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?" He said irritably. "Thanks," Katsuya said quietly. "For what?" Jin replied angrily.
He was starting to believe that this boy was cracked and beyond helping. Katsuya reached into his pocket a second later he pulled out a cross with the initials "T.T" deeply engraved into the front of it, he threw it over to Jin who caught it with ease. Jin opened the palm of his hand, he examined the cross for but a minute and immediately recognized it as his father's cross, he looked up at Katsuya with a mixture of thanks, confusion and anger. "I found it in the box of Mother's belongings, the only things she had left to give to me," He paused for a moment just as the bell rang, both young men knew the students would be pouring out of the class rooms at any moment. "Thanks for telling me you did it, Jin. Killed Margaret, I mean. I'd hate to hear it from anyone else." And with that the German teenager headed down the hall toward the stairs. Jin stared at the empty space for a minute before shutting the door behind him.
He turned and headed back over to his bed as Mariemaia was awakening from the short nap she had taken, she eyed Jin curiously. "Is there something the matter, Jin?" She asked sliding off the bed. Jin shook his head placing the cross on the desk, he hadn't been aware that he had lost it and probably would've stayed in that unawareness until it was too late to do anything about it. Mariemaia walked up over to him, she grasped his wrist pulling him in the direction of the door. "Are you sure your okay?" She asked. Jin nodded blinking back tears. He turned around and met Mariemaia's pale blue eyed gaze face to face, he never paid attention to the fact that he dwarfed her in height and had to look down at her. "Yeah, Mariemaia-san--- thanks for your concern," He replied uncharacteristically. Mariemaia was slightly taken aback by his response but paid no attention to its meaning, she was just glad that he wasn't shaking anymore. It had taken over an hour and a half to get him to stop crying, afterward it was only natural his shaking would stop as well.
Shifting her head to the side the young girl released his hand and made her way over to the bedroom door remembering that she had to meet Dido in front of the school where she was sure Lady Une was waiting for her in the limo, as she opened the door she turned her head to get one last look at the tall teenager. "Jin, you don't plan on disappearing again, do you?" Mariemaia asked. Jin looked down at his feet for a moment before he decided to answer her. "Yeah. But not for some time, I'm afraid," He replied with a ghost of a grin. Mariemaia felt her heart jump into her throat at the answer but she couldn't let herself be consumed by a possibility that may never come to pass, swallowing her nervousness the 10-year-old girl stepped outside of the bedroom. Never bothered watching the door close he walked over to his window seat, he placed himself upon the seat resting his back up against the pillowed wall behind him and proceeded to watch the students of the school pour of the front door happy that school was finally over. He smiled to himself pressing his forehead against the cold window; Relena would be coming soon to pick him up. He couldn't wait to see her face again.
(Maxwell/Schbeiker residence):
"So, you straightened him out, did you?" Duo yawned as he stretched himself out on the bed. He watched from behind as Heero went through his closet for something to wear other than his clothes, which in this case to Duo was strange. Heero never once commented on his clothes so the young man figured he had absolutely no taste or care in that matter about what he wore; it still appeared that way but Duo had his suspicions. "It would appear so," Heero stated. "Jin from what I see, doesn't have a single suicidal wish left in his body," Heero replied monotonously scratching the back of his neck briefly, his right hand continuing to sort through the clothes in the closet.
"He's probably fed up with being beaten down and not dying." Heero picked up a neatly pressed tuxedo of the closet and showed it to the American sitting on the bed, Duo gave him an indifferent expression shrugging at the black tuxedo before falling back onto the bed. "He gave it to me for chiasmas, A.C. 197," He mumbled. Heero looked it over for a moment before hanging it onto the door knob, he found what he was looking for, now all he had to do was get dressed he would be out the house without any problems save Hilde's pestering questions. Duo groaned rubbing his temples as he felt another headache coming on, a side affect from the pain medication he was on until his arm was completely healed from its ordeal.
He had tried to go without using the small pink pills for a week, it almost worked until Hilde noticed that the bottle had not been touched since the last time he had taken them (which was before new years eve), she was adamant in her decision in his continuing to take the medicine. Duo obliged, for Hilde's sake and resumed consuming the pills but managed to sneak past a day without taking them without Hilde's notice. He kept his eyes focused on the ceiling as Heero grabbed a dark blue, the Japanese teenager studied the flimsy object in his hand for a moment. There was no point in his being dressed up for a party he wouldn't be staying in for at least several minutes and then leave, sighing the young man placed the tuxedo and tie back into the closet shutting the door, Duo sat up realizing that Heero had not one item in his possession. "Decided not dress for Ojousan's gathering?" Duo spoke flexing his fingers.
Heero made no reply he headed out of the room not in the least bothered by the braided young man's comment, he headed over to the couch where he was currently bunking. Heero had thought of returning to space but he found he could not find a place or Colony cluster he would want to reside on, kneeling down he rummaged through his duffle bag for his extra pair of gloves. Inside the kitchen Hilde was busy on making herself as well as the two ex-pilots an early dinner. Her turkey soup delight was nearly ready. Hilde found herself unable to keep her mind on one thing that afternoon: Both she and Duo had returned from the L3 colony where Trowa's toupe was currently to find Heero clicking away at his laptop speaking to himself on the details of whatever he was hacking into.
Duo had greeted Heero with a brief nod (which the Japanese teenager did not acknowledge before heading into the bathroom to freshen himself up after the long plane ride instead of falling right into the bed, Hilde wanted to chew the young man's ears off for leaving the house without a proper explanation but, as fate would have it, Heero happened to be one step ahead of her. He had explained briefly without details that he needed to go out and take care of loose ends that were left unresolved while they were on vacation, Hilde did not press the matter any further at the reminder of their horrible time at the mountain resort, she headed into the kitchen for a bite to eat.
However, since then, Hilde found herself unable to keep her occupied inside the office taking care of the paper work for the scrap yard and the expenses while Heero and Duo took assignments from Lady Une, checking out potential threats to peace. Within that two and half day period, Hilde saw less of Duo during the day since he took the afternoon rounds of hacking into computers, leaving her to fend for herself with Heero inside the house. She tried her best to form some type of communication with the stoic teenager, Heero would speak to her about certain things that came to his mind, mostly mechanical subjects but nonetheless he was talking and Hilde could feel some type of friendly connection forming between them. Especially when she ordered him to relieve himself of his laptop and assist her in cooking in the kitchen. Hilde also noticed that whenever Heero was around tapping away at his laptop and Duo wasn't taking on assignments from Une, Duo would unconsciously tap his fingers against any flat surface he was around until Heero sent him a look indication he wanted him to stop.
It was apparent Duo pondering on his assignments, possibly wondering what possessed him to accept them. Hilde did remember him saying to her that he would like to keep in touch with his friends (mainly the pilots, whenever he could) but under no circumstances would he want to be bothered by anything concerning a war unless absolutely necessary. Hilde realized his assignments were bothering him, but she knew he wouldn't say anything because he was bringing in money. Bringing herself out of her thoughts, Hilde removed the top off the pot of the crock boiler and checked on the turkey soup, it was nearly ready to her relief but something inside her told her she needed to talk to both young men before they started eating dinner.
Swallowing she placed the mixing spoon onto the counter beside the crock boiler heading out of the kitchen quickly at the notice of Duo exiting the bedroom, illegally fiddling with his smaller more accommodating sling, her gaze became determined as Heero looked up from his duffle bag. Duo was completely unaware of Hilde's approach until he felt her grasp his forearm with her small hand, he looked up at her question removing his hand from the sling's strap. He hadn't expected to her to be outside of the kitchen until dinner was ready, straightening himself out he stared down at the slightly shorter Hilde. "What is it?" He asked. Hilde closed her eyes for a minute folding her arms across her chest spending a moment pondering on the wording of her question so as not to get Duo on the defensive and withdraw from her for the rest of the night. "Um-- I've been meaning to ask you Duo --- and Heero," The brown haired Asian looked up from his duffle bag again at the mention of his name.
Hilde twiddled her thumbs nervously before returning to the present matter at hand. "What is it exactly you guys look for in these hacking operations? I could help!" She exclaimed thinking back on the times that she helped Duo during the war. Both young men stared at each other for a moment pondering on the proposal; Heero preferred to have just one partner helping him, he didn't favor the idea of having another one at his side. Duo on the other hand had mixed feelings; one part of him wanted to say yes for the sake of doing so get to avoid a confrontation with the spunky German teenager, but the other part of him wanted to say 'no' to Hilde no matter what she did either. Heero sensed the inner turmoil of his comrade deciding to answer for both of them. "No," Was the simple reply from the 17-year-old.
Hilde almost fell over in shock. She turned to Heero with her hands on her hips trying her best not to snap at the stoic young man. "What? But I can help you guys," Hilde protested glancing at Duo. Heero stood up from his crouched position having finally found his extra gloves he stared the young woman down with his intense gaze. "The answer's no, Hilde. If we needed your help, we would've asked. Begging us isn't going to help, so stop asking," Heero said slipping on his gloves. Hilde watched him strangely as he moved away from the two of them toward the front door, she blinked quizzically at this, she shifted her gaze to Duo who just shrugged in response. "Heero, where are you going?" Hilde pipped up walking after the young man as he slipped his boots onto his feet. When Heero did not response the girl stepped in front of the door blocking the Prussian blue-eyed boy's path, Heero frowned in response tempted to move the girl out of his way forcefully.
"I'm leaving," Heero stated reaching for the door knob. "But you haven't even eaten yet!" The girl proclaimed. Heero just looked at her. Hilde placed her hand onto the knob pressing her backside against the door in an attempt to show Heero how determined she was to keep inside the house --- until he had eaten or at least bothered speaking to them, Heero simply glared in response. "Oi Hilde-san, I think it's best to let him leave," Duo said quickly as he headed over to the two. Heero turned his attention to the approaching American hoping to Kami he would move Hilde away from the doors. Duo gently moved Hilde away from the door only getting small resistance from the German teenage girl, Heero looked in their direction for a moment adjusting the sleeve on his jacket before opening the door and exiting the house.
Hilde watched the door slam shut before averting her attention to Duo who seemed unfazed the glare he was receiving from the German teenager, Hilde moved herself out of Duo's one-handed grasp proceeding to return to the kitchen to check on the turkey soup, however, Duo's voice brought her advance toward the kitchen door to a halt. "Hey, Hilde don't be upset, Heero's just going to give something to Ojousan. Call it a late chiasmas gift," Duo explained promptly. Hilde's arms hung by her side, she remained still while her mind processed the information within her mind, Duo awaited a response praying it wasn't a negative one when she was done pondering. A minute or so later Hilde turned to meet Duo's uncertain eyes, she gave him a hopeless kind of smile throwing the braided American off guard. "Your right, I shouldn't be mad or worried for that matter," Hilde announced bashfully.
Duo just blinked rapidly asking himself what had brought on the sudden admittance from his friend, he moved forward until he was close enough to place his hand under her thick bangs upon her forehead, his cobalt eyes averted upward as if he were trying to stare at his forehead. "You don't seem feverish," Duo was kicked in the shin for that comment. He grunted stepping back a bit, Hilde made a face as she removed his large hand from her forehead. "I'm not feverish Duo!" She exclaimed. "It's just---- that well -- since the doctor left both of you in my capable hands, I feel responsible for anything that happens to you and that stubborn mule you call a friend." Duo grinned automatically, shaking his head Hilde remained in the same spot just staring at his grinning expression. "Ah don't worry about Heero. He can take care of himself. I should know," Duo said calmly. Hilde just nodded slowly as she resumed her advancement toward the kitchen, Duo followed behind her, quietly his eyes wandering from her back to the front door. Duo knew there would be leftovers tonight.
(Peacecraft Mansion):
Relena waltzed through the large crowded hall ways of the first floor of the mansion trying to get to the stairs where her brother and Noin resided looking about as glumly as she was but managed to hide it a little better. Her brother was wearing a customary Sanc Kingdom attire (much like the outfit he wore when as the embassador from the Sanc Kingdom, Miliardo, as she remembered from the picture Romafeller showed her) that showed off his the sheer height that dwarfed most of the stuffy government officials inside the mansion.
Relena found his size to be a little intimidating but she better part of her knew there was nothing to fear from her brother. Noin was wearing a feminine suit overtop her plane white dress shirt with a pair of pleated pants paired off with a pair of black flat heeled dress shoes, she wore no earnings, just a necklace Relena had given to her last year. She held two cups in her hand watching Zechs speak to one of the government officials whose name Relena was sure she knew but not right off the top of her head. The look in her brother's eyes was a professional one--- Relena was still getting used to the fact that her brother was a master of hiding whatever he was feeling with a simple change in his facial and eye expressions, it was almost creepy to the girl but she was known to use the technique herself on more than one occasion.
She sighed with relief as she found herself getting nearer and nearer to her brother and Noin's current position, she made sure her full body skirt was straight as well as her hair as she made her way through the last of the barricade of a crowd. Zechs paused in mid-speech as he saw his sister politely making her way toward the stair case he and Noin were standing on, the government official (Governor Ralph Emerson) turned in response to the man's sudden pause and smiled at the sight of a waving Relena. "Good evening Governor, Miss Noin, Zechs," Relena bowed quickly, once she arrived to her desired destination. "Hello, Vice minister Darlain," Emerson stated in a mock-cheerful voice. "Mr. Marquise was just telling me all about your efforts as of the last year, A.C. 198. Good work by the way. I love the party." Relena gave the middle-aged man a professional smile as she extended her hand to shake his, the man's shake was rough; the first one made her arm sore but she managed to withstand the shake until he was done.
Emerson turned and bowed to Noin before going about his way, Noin sighed with relief handing Zechs his glass of lemonade, the platinum blonde took it with a small thanks before bringing it to his lips. Relena joined her two closest aids on the stairs with a smile. "How's Jin?" The honey blonde asked. Zechs continued to drink his lemonade leaving Noin to answer the young woman. "Jin -- is -- fine," Noin began hesitantly, remembering the boy's out-of-character light mood. "He's up in the room reading a John Grisham book --- the rainmaker, I think. Before that he was unpacking the rest of his stuff from his dorm. He asked if I wanted to help, I told I didn't want to intrude on his space. He left it at that naturally," Noin explained briefly. Relena nodded a sigh of relief escaped her lips causing Zechs to lower his glass. Relena did a double take upon noticing the perplexed look upon her brother's face. She was quite aware that Zechs' feelings for Jin were less than pleasant because of his run with the boy while he was piloting Wing Zero.
Zechs probably didn't trust Jin for as far as he could throw the young man (which was possibly far, but Relena wasn't betting on that), because of that skirmish. "Mailiardo---." Relena began. "Its Zechs Relena," The man interrupted quietly. "Just be careful around that kid." With that the tall young man headed down the stairs leaving Relena and Noin with their thoughts. Relena sighed in dismay as Noin swallowed the rest of her lemonade and headed down the stairs, but not before speaking a few parting words. "Don't worry about Zechs Miss Relena, he'll come around to Jin in no time. Especially if you plan on adopting him," Noin said hoping her words would comfort the young woman. Relena looked up with a small smile. "Thank you Noin," She whispered. Noin nodded with a wave as she turned to go after Zechs. Relena watched the short haired woman make her way through the crowd until her figure ultimately vanished from all sight, the honey blonde sighed in dismay at the last words her brother had said to her;
Just be careful round that kid. As she climbed up the flight of stairs deciding she had enough of crowded halls and the large livingroom of the mansion Relena wondered when anyone would besides her would approve of Jin, she rounded the corner of the stairs and once she finally made it up the up stairs Relena focused her gaze on the door at the end of the hall. Sighing again she strode down the hall as quickly as she could without making so much as sound upon the ground, Relena did not hesitate to open the door this time; she turned the knob and peered inside the bedroom finding it dark. Illuminated by nothing but the moonlight and the small lamp hanging above the large bed she found Jin fast asleep upon, she let out a small sigh stepping inside the bedroom shutting the bedroom quietly behind her. Slipping her heels off her feet, Relena tiptoed across the floor toward the bed.
Jin remained on the bed halfway under the covers with the book he had been reading open on his stomach covering the thick bandage on his torso, Relena smiled with an empathic smile on her face resting herself on the edge of the bed her hand reaching over to move the book, Jin yawned unconsciously as he wriggled the half of his body under the sheet, Relena pulled the covers back and put his feet under the covers that were pulled back before putting the rest of the cover his body. Jin yawned again pulling his pillow closer to his head, Relena smiled as she placed her hand upon his damp forehead (indicating he had been washing his face) brushing his hair out of his face. "I like my hair where it is," Jin mumbled opening his eyes.
Relena did not bother withdrawing her hand she simply smiled at the young man as he turned himself around ignoring the fact that her hand was upon his forehead. "How are you feeling?" She asked, massaging his stomach. Jin shrugged looking down at his bandaged torso. "It doesn't hurt too much . . . I can't sleep very well though," He said, his voice growing quieter. "I had a cramp in my leg . . . but then I felt someone massaging it. I-- I figured you came up earlier." Jin's head flopped to the side, he fell almost instantly. Relena grinned humorously as she pulled the cover that he removed from off top of him back onto him before rising from the bed, she walked around the bed toward the balcony, there was a breeze from the outside to be felt; Relena made sure that cracks in the bedrooms were sealed so there would be no escaping heat in the bedrooms during the winter.
Turning the hook-shaped doorknob she stepped outside the house onto the balcony, she rubbed her hands together. She stalked across the ground thankful she was wearing a pair of high heels. Relena eyes darted the across the dark clouded sky as she advanced toward the balcony wall, she placed her elbows upon the balcony wall cupping her face with both her hands. Her eyes fell down upon the snow covered ground. "It isn't spring time yet, shouldn't be wearing a coat?" Relena jumped away from the balcony in surprise her head whipping from left to the right until she saw an object coming flying toward her, Relena caught what she recognized as a jacket out of the air and stared at it quizzically.
Her eyes followed the shadowed the ground across from her and up toward the side of the wall, her eyes fell upon Heero who was leaning up against the wall of the Peacecraft mansion his arms folded across his chest and his head turned in her direction. A backpack strap hung over his left shoulder. Relena smiled at the sight of the young man before throwing the coat back to him. Heero caught it with ease eyeing her for a minute then pulled the jacket back onto his shoulders. "Suit yourself," He stated pushing away from the wall. Relena nodded in response, following him toward the balcony wall yet again, Heero pulled himself up on an obvious spot of the wall that was nearest to a window down below.
"What brings you here, Heero?" Relena asked leaning on the wall. Heero shrugged letting his leg hang over the side. He swung it unconsciously ignoring the soaking feeling in the pant leg. "I came to see how you were doing," He stated monotonously gesturing to the doorway. Relena glanced over her shoulder at the door that lead back inside the house a small smile played across her face as she turned her attention back to Heero, the young man just stared at her dully. Relena chuckled averting her eyes toward the sky once more. "I'm all right, Jin's getting used to the fact that he --- has a home. I'm just trying my best to make him happy," She explained removing her hands from the sides of her face. "Its' his own fault if he doesn't see what your trying to do for him," Heero nodded rubbing his knuckles with his thumb contemplating on whether or not his reason for coming back to the mansion was exactly a good one.
Heero watched Relena as the silence continued to wrap itself around them until she finally stared at him. "Were you the one? That brought Jin back to the mansion?" Relena asked quietly averting her gaze down to the snowy front of the mansion below. Heero nodded briefly scratching the side of his face. Relena in turn looked as though she had gotten unresponsive answers from the young man, Heero sighed and swung his backpack in the front of him. The bag hit his chest hard as though it had a mind of its own, however, Heero paid no attention to the sting in his chest as he rummaged through his unzipped backpack for the items he had brought Relena. The young woman placed a hand upon her wrist shifting her body weight to the right when she turned around to examine Heero face which was focused on whatever was inside the backpack he had set upon his lap, as she watched his ever moving arms her thoughts wandered back to the slumbering Jin and what she was going to do with him; in reality she didn't have custody of him.
She was just watching over him until someone decided it was time to put him an orphanage and up for adoption, which made her wonder why she had all of his things moved into the mansion let alone allowed him to think she had full custody over him, it almost felt as though she was trying to break his heart just to see what kind of reaction she would get from him. At the same time Relena was sure she wanted to adopt Jin but from what Une kept telling her adopting children was something she had to commit herself to completely and be willing to make sacrifices with them when it came to the security of the ESUN. Relena groaned lowering her head to the cool limestone balcony wall seeking comfort from its low temperature. Heero had been watching her through his thick mess of bangs knowing exactly what she had been thinking about just by the distinctive glances behind her, naturally, leading to the door of Jin's bedroom; she wasn't fooling him by counting would-be tasks on her fingers.
"Here," He said curtly handing her a medium sized box and a thick brown folder. Relena looked up at him curiously while her hands unconsciously took the contents from his hand, she eyed the folder curiously before moving onto the box, her eyes widened in surprise as she read the mailing address. 1551 New Port City, Greenwich bul. Return address/Forward to; Earth Sphere Alliance Mailing route, Vice minister Darlain. Do not open until A.C. 199. Relena looked up at Heero in question. "From what Une told Duo and myself, It was addressed to the house that a Rei and Taku Toshino were to live in upon their arrival to Earth with their son. But incase of any misfortunate happenings it was to be forwarded to the late Vice minister Darlain or the Alliance mailing route to a storage room. It was only natural that after several years it would find its way back into circulation and to the Preventers Headquarters," Heero explained.
Relena nodded slowly absorbing all the information that Heero had relayed to her, her mind played back to the time her father had taken to the colony she had long forgotten the name of to visit a military Scientist apparently playing both sides of the rebels and the Alliance military; she remembered being placed into the hands of a Taku Toshino, Jin's father. Her eyes watered at the realization that she had been so close to the young man's parents or at least one of them and never paid it any thought because she was angry at her father for dragging on another one of his trips through space. The memory of Taku's stony expression as he watched her with her father replayed vividly in her mind. My God, was all that she could think of saying. Heero blinked slowly at the change in the demeanor of her behavior, unsure what she was thinking at that particular time but he was sure it wasn't anything to do Jin, hopefully. "What is this, exactly?" She whispered.
"From what I can tell, their things his parents wanted to him to have, perhaps an explanation to their absence if they didn't happen to be with him on Earth, although it's a bit late for that," Heero replied. "And the folder?" Relena asked holding the item up. "The folder is for you," Heero replied zipping up his backpack. The young man slipped both straps over his shoulders when the bag was positioned behind him, Relena watched him puzzled as he began to walk across the wall toward the drain pipe before realizing what he was doing. Placing the folder box on a safe position on the wall she rushed across the short distance between herself and Heero as the young man reached over and grabbed the drain pipe. "W-wait Heero, please stay!" She cried grasping his calloused hand. Heero turned around abruptly facing the sudden need for his closeness in her face, however, there was no conflict of feelings; he knew he had leave and that's just what he was going to do.
"I can't," Heero mumbled. "I've somewhere else to be." Relena's eyes lowered slightly but she replaced the sad expression (not the feeling) with an understanding expression, she released his hand from her grasp and gripped her forearm. "Your right, it was silly of me to think you could stay," She said quietly. Heero nodded grunting as he pulled himself over to the drain pipe, his feet and hands gripped the edges of the pipe with all his bodily strength, he paused for a moment staring at European Woman before him. Relena stared back with a confused look on her face, why wasn't he leaving yet? "Take care of him, Relena," Heero stated firmly before vanishing from sight. Relena's heart leapt into her throat when she heard a thump below, she threw herself over to the balcony and focused on the form of Heero Yuy sprinting across the grassy yard and over the gate before vanishing completely from her sight.
She sighed rubbing the sides of her arms, there was a moment of silence in which Relena greeted with craning her neck upward to feel it before remembering the box and folder Heero had given her. Rushing over the place she had once been standing in she placed the box between her armpit while her fingers were busy with opening the folder, her breath was caught in her throat, her eyes felt as though they were going to burn a hole right through the brown paper that separated her sight from what it concealed inside. Shakily she pulled a thick amount of paper out of the brown folder; Relena thought she would break down and cry with happiness as her eyes darted across the paper reading the bold lettering than read Permission slip for adoption. She began to laugh and sob at the time realizing what Heero had meant when he had said take care of him, she rubbed her face for a few minutes getting the feeling that she was dreaming the entire thing.
That was until she heard someone open the balcony door yawning loudly, her head whipped toward the door her blue eyes falling upon a slightly perturbed Jin Toshino in his pajamas with his slippers on his feet, he eyed her curiously. "What are you doing out here?" He asked scratching his bandaged torso. Relena shrugged absent-mindedly putting the papers back into the folder she headed back over to the door slowly ushering the boy back inside the house while at the same time welcoming the blast of heat that overcame her frozen body, Jin yawned again as he made his way back to the bed. Relena flopped down next to him as he burrowed underneath the covers with a sigh, she watched his tired face relax when he laid his head upon the pillow, swallowing she removed the box from between her arm and placed it onto the beside table next to the lamp. Jin blinked in confusion. "Its' for you, from Heero. You can open it tomorrow," Relena said quietly rising from the bed.
"I'll see you in the morning, G'night Jin." She leaned over the young man placing a kiss on his cheek before withdrawing, Jin watched her wordlessly as she made her way over to the door, she opened it and stepped outside a smile playing on her lips the entire time. When the door was closed plunging him back into the darkness that was night Jin grabbed the box off the table and sat up in his bed, he quietly cut through the transparent tape with his fingernail then opened the flaps of the box ignoring the peanuts that came floating out of it. He was curious to know what Heero had left him. Once Jin removed the peanuts he was confronted with an envelope that had his name upon it, he put it aside and focused his attention on the thick leather book that laid in of the box above several other items packed in bulking folders and bubble wrap. He would see to them later, he thought. Jin picked the bok up and opened it on the first page.
He blinked rapidly at the picture of a man with thick brown hair and a small child sitting between his legs sucking on a popsicle. Next was a picture woman dressed in a white dress that was stained in chocolate and a little boy sitting cross-legged on the ground with a melting ice-cream in his hand. Jin continued to flip through the book of pictures of familiar faces and places until he reached the end. Jin stared down at the title written under the picture 'Toshino Family'. Jin felt as though he had been sucker punched, this book was full of images of himself and his parents. Jin closed the album quietly averting his gaze toward the envelope lying on his bed amongst the pile peanuts, he was unaware of the unhindered tears that fell from his eyes down his cheeks.
He had no intentions of reading it at all knowing all it would be full of was apologies for whatever happened, scooping up the peanuts and the envelope the young man placed them back in the box after making sure he left no indications that he had opened the box aside from the torn tape. He slipped underneath his covers upon placing the box back on the bedside table. He pressed his head hard against the pillow allowing his eyes to travel across the room as tears continued to blur his vision. From the hall way Relena watched the still lying form of Jin with a saddened heart. Heero had kept his promise to protect her, so now she would keep her word and protect the almost fragile-like child lying in the bed crying. Sighing to herself she closed the door without making a noise before she turned around and was met with the tall figure of her brother.
He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a big green tined T-shirt and barefoot, apparently no longer wishing to be dressed in his formal attire, which also meant he wasn't coming back downstairs until the government officials and other important people were gone. "Hello, brother," Relena whispered grabbing his wrist. Zechs allowed himself to be lead by the hand of his younger sister back to his bedroom he used whenever he wasn't traveling around the world or space (mainly concerning the Terra formation project) on missions or plain desire to travel. "How's he holding up?" Zechs asked, curious. Relena shook her head. "He's fine --- most of the time. Other times he's brooding or crying in his bedroom," Relena replied with her head lowered. "It's part of his so-called recovery process. He doesn't tell me much about his early morning outings to the cemetery to visit his parents, but I can tell he's getting better aside from the obvious signs."
Zechs' eyebrows raised in confirmation that he had been listening to her, he turned his gaze behind the young woman (whom he noted had gotten taller since he had last seen her) down the hall at the door that resided at the end of it glaring at it as though he could see straight through it. Returning his attention back to his sister Zechs stretched his arms feeling a yawn coming on. "Just give him time Relena, he obviously prefers to deal with these kinds of things on his own. When he's ready, he'll come to you and tell you about it," Zechs said reaching over to pinch her cheek. "I hope you're right, Zechs," Relena winced at the feeling of her brother's fingers pressing against her fine skin, she slapped his hand away gently. The older man just grinned at her reaction. "I'll see you later," He sighed, walking back into his bedroom. Relena nodded firmly boasting her falling spirits with her brother's words, with one last look at the end of the hall the 17-year-old made her way across the hall. Rounding the corner she headed down the stairs straightening her face with a more professional expression for her party guests.
Outside the Peacecraft mansion Heero kept a vigilant gaze on the balcony he had come from outside of the gates, the cold wind nipped at his neck blowing the pixie dust like snow upon the ground up into the air as he awaited his pick-up. At one point as he stood outside he could've sworn he heard someone crying but concluded it was just his imagination playing tricks on him. Heero sighed upon the sound of an approaching vehicle coming up the drive way.
Heero turned just as the 4x4 jeep came to halt and with it a very less-than pleasant Duo with Hilde riding in the back, her arms folded across her chest. Heero arched his eyebrows in question at the sight of Duo with both of his hands on the steering wheel before looking to Hilde for answers. Hilde poked her head out of the window looking all the more angry in the moonlight. "You do know we're going to have to get his arm and hand set again? He dislocated it in wrestling match with me for the Jeep keys," Hilde snapped at the young man.
Heero looked to Duo who shrugged absent-mindedly unlocking the passengers' car door for his friend. He frowned again upon noticing the distant look in Heero's eyes, clearing his throat he managed to catch the Japanese teenager's attention as he got inside the jeep and shut the door behind him. "Is there something the matter, Heero?" Duo asked as they pulled out the drive way and onto the road. Heero blinked for a minute watching the scenery fly by the window like a fleeting thought in his mind, he shook his head when Duo glanced at him again. "No, I'm just ---- wondering about something," He replied quietly pressing his forehead against the window. "Such as?" Duo inquired. "Jin's Confidence in his ability to get on with life beyond death. His abilities to put memories of the past behind him. That type of thing," was Heero's thoughtful response.
Even if something fades away, something
Will live again
The smile you gave as we parted was
Your message for me to triumph
Someday surely we'll meet again
And be together
No matter how far, we'll stare into each other's eyes
Bet all our hopes and dreams
Let's promise each other
That we'll hold onto the intensity
Of that day
And live in the future that blooms in tomorrow
(The End)
Authors note: Thank you to everyone who read my story. I hope you enjoyed it.