Aquarian Wings
By: A.R. Taloff
"I'll come by and see you again
I'll have to be a very good friend
If I whisper they will know
I'll just turn around and go
You will never know my sin."
Chapter Four: Rain Falling on Dry Leaves
Midii tapped two pencils on the door casing as she went out of her office.
The phone rang.
Already two steps outside of her room, she wanted to shrug off the call. Answering machines are around, she mentally reminded herself, you can restrain the urge to answer the call.
:Ringgggggggg:
Her shoulders fell. "Forget it Midii, you know you want to pick it up," she muttered to herself.
"Hello," she said into the receiver.
There was an eerie silence.
"Hello?"
"The Clowns Are Going to Pay."
Midii stared at the phone as it went dead in her hand. The clowns are going to pay? What was that about?
She realized, with a very scared feeling, that someone might be in danger. Biting her lip, Midii fought to recognize the clue in what the monotone voice had uttered. She fisted her hands, which now rested on her desk, and prayed for the answer.
Opening her eyes she stared straight at the only framed picture on her desk. It was a candid shot of Trowa, right after he had finished a circus act last summer. He was smiling, his half-mask held in one hand and the other petting a lion named Jakob. Midii remembered how the girls had stared at Trowa's exquisite upper body, and relished the fact that he had asked her to accompany him. It was a strange, moronic feeling, but, what else did a person in love act like but a native of 'Moronville?'
It was unfortunate that she was the only who probably felt that way. Trowa most likely only dealt with her because he thought her suspicious.
A smile tugged softly at her lips as she looked at his dorky pants. What god awful things . . . They make clowns wear the most . . .
She gasped softly.
Clowns.
She didn't bother to lock her office as she took off down the long corridor.
Present Time
AC 204
Somewhere passed the town of Frankenthal
Deutschlandes
S-Bahn a freeway name
Dorothy quickly glanced at the current readouts that Midii and Lady had sent her. Dammit. Things were getting worse. In lieu of the upcoming ceremony for the new Foreign Minister, the 'Assassin' had come out again. For five seconds she remembered Quatre's handsome, worried face, and slammed her foot down on the accelerator.
Present Time
AC 204
Der Pastorale Park
Deutschlandes
3:14 pm
Trowa felt the back of his neck prickle. Quickly he sought out the faces of Aquarius and Aramis, who were running around, playing an odd sort of tag. He sighed mentally, but that didn't stop the scary tickle that slid up and down his spine. Trowa had always trusted his instincts, and they now were shouting 'WARNING!' in his mind.
He stood, and clicked on his microphone; it was attached to his collar, in the form of a rose pin.
"Trowa!"
His ears pricked at the sound of someone shouting his name. Trowa flicked his gaze around the playground. :Must've been the wind, or my imagination.:
But something still nagged.
"Trowa!" the voice screamed again, and then he looked up, seeing blonde hair, haphazardly thrown into a ponytail, now falling out in thick chunks.
His mind started racing, why was Midii here. She could be in danger here, I thought she had to be at HQ today.
Midii kept running, until it became all too clear.
She was screaming his name still, and tears were streaming out of her frightened brown eyes as she started to sprint.
"HeadQuarters, something going down, Pasto-"
Trowa's voice was stifled as Midii charged into him and then she screamed as he heard the silent bullet thud into her body, jerking her sideways slightly.
Past Time
AC 199
1st Str.
Dublin, Ireland
Maxwell-Noventa Mansion
Flash bulbs flickered over the grisly scene, and Wu Fei held his brother tightly in his arms. Duo, Gods, why . . . why you out of us five? What did you have, that targeted you?
Sylvia still lay, silent as the dreamless sleep of death kept her.
Duo coughed hoarsely, and Wu Fei almost had a heart attack as violet eyes, glazed over, tried to find a face. "Fei?" came out of the mouth, along with some blood, which drooled out onto Wu Fei Chang's pristine uniform.
"Duo . .. Duo, just hang on, the paramedics are here, but we thought . . ."
Duo's eyes shut, and he gripped Wu Fei's arm weakly. "I'm . . . gonna . . . dead in few min . . .utes . . . watch . . . 'lena and them all, Fei . . . H-heero . . . Aramis . . . is in . . ."
Wu Fei stared in utter shock as more blood pooled onto the flagstone walkway of his brother's house.
"Syl . . . l's callin . . . jus' get 'im Fei . . . ge'im . . . his stone . . . eyes . . ." Duo reached for Sylvia's hand, which lay cold nearby. On contact, his body shuddered, and Duo, once the brightest spot in the ex-Gundam Pilots' lives, died.
Present Time
AC 204
Mannheim Preventers HeadQuarters
Deutschlandes
3:23 pm
Dorothy ran across the parking lot, her long blonde hair whipping behind her.
She jerked her head around as a loud squeal of tires echoed. All she could do was scream.
A large black car hit her, sending her thumping against the windshield, her head ramming against the thick glass.
The car clicked into reverse and swerved, causing her to slid off and onto the pavement, her body falling into an unconscious heap.
The car squealed again as the driver spun a tight circle and floored it out of the lot.
Lady Une ran out, along with four others, she started shooting at the back tires, trying to get a clear aim through tears.
Dorothy's blood oozed out onto the pavement, and flashes of Duo and Sylvia pricked the back of Une's mind as she checked for the unconscious woman's pulse. Ripping out her cell phone, she dialed the GeoCity's hospital.
Lady quickly tore off a sleeve of her white blouse and balled it up against the most intense wound, located on the back of Dorothy's head, praying that one more life wouldn't be lost to the madman.
Present Time
AC 204
Mannheim GeoCity Preventers Base Hospital
Deutschlandes
4:17 pm
Relena stood in the waiting room, her mind racing with fear. An attempt on Trowa, intercepted by Midii, who ended up taking the bullet. Seven minutes later, Dorothy, whom no one had known was coming, got hit by a car in the parking lot of the HeadQuarters upper level.
Now Dorothy lay in ICU room 345, and Trowa was with Midii in room 346.
Relena had opted to stay here, with Aquarius, who was gently covering a sleeping Aramis with her coat. Heero had gone to get coffee.
Aquarius thought of the way that Aramis had gone pale and very nearly insane upon seeing Midii get shot, of how his hysterical cries frightened Aquarius like nothing had ever before. Perhaps it was because Aramis was the only one that Aquarius could provide some comfort to. Perhaps it was because Aquarius rarely interacted with someone who had not thought of her as 'that girl that Peacecraft/Darlian adopted' or the 'assumed bastard child' of someone. He was shaking and cold when the doctors had given him a shot of tranquilizers; it was only then when Aquarius had relinquished him to his father, who cradled the boy gently, Mr. Yuy's eyes in so much pain.
Aquarius straightened, raking her two hands through her hair and leveling her mother with a sharp glance. "Mom . . . what is-"
The entrance doors slammed open, interrupting Aquarius's accusation, and in walked a tall man with platinum blonde hair, brilliantly lit by the florescent lights of the corridor. He was flanked by two even taller, bulkier men in dark suits.
The blonde looked expensive, if anything real and breathing could actually bear that adjective. His light brown, soft leather trenchcoat flowed behind him, his dove gray suit fit to perfection, bright, lagoon colored eyes were narrowed. Before he got far, his arm was grabbed by an intern.
The intern gave the blonde a hard look. "Sir, I'm sorry, you're . . ."
The intruder stared at the intern with disgust, "Get off." He stepped again, and again the intern, who looked a bit stronger than the blonde, jerked the intruder's jacket back.
The blonde quickly pulled out a previously concealed beretta, and pointed it at the intern's head. "You don't get it, ass, do you?"
The intern stared at the gun, praying it wasn't loaded.
The blonde continued, his voice vibrating with desperation. "You, just, don't, fucking, get it! Do you even know who I am, you fucking idiot! Do you understand whose jacket you are grabbing, whose fiancee you have in your goddamn ICU ROOM!"
The blonde's voice edged higher with rage, and the intern grew more and more pale.
The blonde breathed heavily, trying to regain some calm, and he kept the gun trained at the intern's head, eyes holding the intern's stare. "Rashid, please, inform this brainless ass-wipe of who he is dealing with, so that in the future, such idiotic mistakes aren't replicated."
The tallest man nodded and the blonde let the nose of the gun fall so that it pointed to the ground. "Don't, ever, fucking mess with me again,' he half hissed at the intern.
He holstered the gun and sharply turned, passing Relena and Aquarius and walking into ICU room 345.
Aquarius couldn't speak for what seemed like an eternity. She sucked in air. "Mom . . ."
Relena, who had her eyes closed, thanking God that nothing disastrous had happened, opened them to Aquarius's pleading green eyes.
"Mom, w-was that . . . was that . . ."
Relena felt the threads of the intricate safety web start to deteriorate with the dawn of Aquarius's new found discoveries. "Quatre Raberba Winner . . . yes." Relena sighed, her heart aching for the kind man. "Poor Quatre . . ."
Aquarius began to feel as though her head would explode. The richest man in the colonies, and he was waving a beretta at a hospital intern. Her mother was referring to him as though they were friends. Her mother knew the Preventers well, because Fei wasn't the only Agent she talked with in friendly, soft ways with. There was that tall brunette, who was with the blonde who had been shot. Midii . . . she thought, was the blonde's name. Her mother seemed to know Midii well, talking with the tall man in hushed tones, hugging and patting one another.
And Aramis, and the man who was Aramis's father. She had seen the way they looked at each other.
And now this other woman, whose long blonde hair was nearly as platinum as the Winner millionaire's was. The woman whose hand her mother had held. Dorothy.
Oh God . . . who was this new Relena? Where had her mother gone, or worse, had this woman always been here, secretly under the skin and surface of Peacecraft Pacifism?
"Mother, who are you?" suddenly sprang from Aquarius's lips, almost accusatory in nature.
Relena bit her lip gently. She knew this was coming. Had known since the day that the brick broke their window; as though it also had broken whatever silent, sheltered world that she had kept her daughter in.
There was nothing overprotective about the move. The thirteen of them, now eleven, had always promised to keep the truth from their children, until they felt it was necessary to pass on. And then, only then, would they call a meeting, where all could relate the stories of the past.
The Past. What a silly way to call the years that the thirteen of them had become closer than Relena and her schoolgirl friends had ever been. The years where they all had aged. The years that were suppose to be innocent and carefree. The years of AC 195 through 197.
The thirteen had sworn that their children would never be terrified.
Oh God, what a horrible promise to break.
Relena had never known that she would ever have to explain things to Aquarius without Duo to lighten the atmosphere. Sylvia to help bear the burden of telling children. How would she explain motives that they all shared for the same purpose? To keep their dark secrets hidden. How would she explain everything to Aquarius . . .
So little time . . . so much pain.
"Aquarius . . ."
The soft way that Relena uttered the name triggered a violence in Aquarius, which manifested itself into words. "Don't patronize me that way! Don't hide from me what can no longer be hidden! Don't you understand what I am going through? Do you understand what kind of horror that Aramis went through, seeing Midii get shot? My mother, whom I love, and she won't tell me why the Preventers treat her like a close, personal, best friend? Why the richest man in the colonies would not care if she called him by his first name? Why the richest man in the colonies carries a personal concealed weapon; how he can know how to bear it, when he is a pacifist?"
Aquarius sobbed, her eyes pleading and her nose turning red. "Mom, please, tell me, I'm so scared . . ."
Relena closed her eyes, fighting off her own emotions, controlling herself with what little strength she still had after this horrendous day, which was still not over. "Riu," she started, praying for guidance. "I promise, that when Midii and Dorothy are better, and in the event that nothing else has happened, that I, and everyone, will explain . . . everything to you. You're right, you should know."
Aquarius's eyes looked even more frightened.
Relena sighed. "Don't worry, my darling. I'm not doing anything illegal."
Relena almost lost all control as Riu's eyes watered, and she turned and ran off. Kai Ling appeared, her tired eyes managing to hold some semblance of latitude. "I'll protect her, ma'am."
Relena nodded, realizing that now she did feel older than Kai, and 'ma'am' didn't bother her.
So much life lived. So much pain. So much wisdom that Relena would sometimes willing trade for cheeseburger afternoons, drive-in movie dates, and milkshake dreams.
So much.
The door to ICU room 345 opened.
Past Time
AC 200
Londonderry, Europa
Yuy Mansion
Aramis lay curled up tight in his ex uncle's, now father's, arms. His new father's bed was very big, and he imagined it to be lonely, which is why he slept there.
His new father.
His old father, the one who had helped create him, was gone. And would remain that way. Aramis remembered very much of his old father.
Laughter. Smiling. Parties.
The new father did not bring with him a mother, though the same symbolic ring that his old father had had was in place on his new father's left hand. It was simple, with a small stone in the middle of it.
Where had the new mother gone?
Present Time
AC 204
Mannheim GeoCity Preventers Base Hospital
Deutschlandes
4:29 pm
Relena watched as Quatre, now coatless and haggard, nearly stumbled out of 345. His eyes held a haunted quality, and Relena could almost taste his unhappiness. It was a tangible floating aura, and it surrounded the blonde.
He captured her eyes and started towards her.
She faced him and waited.
He opened his arms and enfolded her in them tight, something Relena did not expect, but none the less, found herself wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him back.
"It'll be better, Quatre . . ." she whispered into the fabric of his suit.
He leaned his face into her hair, and she felt tears as their warmth touched her scalp, Quatre took a shaky breath. "I was late . . . god . . . they . . . he . . ."
Relena buried her head further into his shoulder, nodding and biting her lip against the tears that desperately wanted out.
"What has become . . . we used to be . . . now . . ." he quietly sobbed, pulling her tighter.
And that broke Relena, and she turned her head up to the ceiling. "No . . . we'll stop him Quat . . . I promise . . . We'll find him . . ." she whispered, tears clouding her vision.
Quatre pulled away, the tears still running softly down his slightly stubbled cheeks. "I . . . she . . . I had a son . . ." he closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against Relena's.
She held him close, tucking his head to her shoulder.
"They took my son . . . my son . . . our son . . ." Quatre's sobs racked his body, and for the life of him, he could not find a way to stop the pain. Relena offered comfort, which helped, but nothing could stop the fact from running through his mind on repeat.
"I had a daughter . . ." Relena whispered.
Trowa had stood for a time, holding eye-contact with Heero, whose eyes had gone from empathy to shock.
There was no mistaking the moment Heero realized she said 'had.'
Had.
A daughter.
And the pain in her voice sufficed the rest. The pain that only losing a child can give you.
Heero had nearly lost the hold he had on the two cups of coffee. As it was, he stood, stock-still, completely overwhelmed with a knowledge of something. Something which gave reason to Relena's hiding from him.
Gwenhywfer.
That's the name of our child.
Our girl.
The name she whispered today.
The reason she ran from me.
She thought she would save me the pain.
She thought she'd protect me.
She . . . took it on alone.
What happened to our child?
Trowa stared at Heero for a few more seconds, then found himself pulled to the two friends, who held each other from insanity.
Relena felt someone come close and hold onto them. It was Trowa, who, with his strong arms, held tight, seeking the same confidence and strength.
And then there was someone new, someone whose touched burned Relena still. Heero. In one fell swoop, she realized he must know. Whether through Trowa or from being there to hear her voice say it, he now knew that they had a child; it was in his quiet, gentle need to feel loved.
How they had become this, these people whom they could not have imagined being, it was unsure. Never before had they sought out comfort. Never before, when they had Gundam, had they allowed fear or hurt to take hold. They were the children of war, jaded and youth destroyed; yet now they held onto one another as though the whole was a life raft, and they were drowning.
Was it the helplessness of the situation? Was it the fact that they no longer had Gundam? Was it because they had seen the results of previous deaths? Was it because Duo no longer laughed with them? Was it because they had grown-up, and had a niece and nephew, children?
How had it come to this . . .
Aquarius stood in a corridor, watching the four hold one another. Watched her mother cry on the shoulder of Quatre Raberba Winner, who had made the first movement to hug. Watched them speak of pain, of lost strength.
Discovered yet something new.
Another daughter. A daughter that must have died.
Heero's shock. Trowa's pain.
They held each other, seeking, needing, desperately grasping for an answer.
How had they become entwined? she thought. How had their lives been molded to this? To each other?
"What is . . . happening?" she whispered into the darkness.
Kai's voice answered, and her soft hand slid into Aquarius's own.
"I don't know, Riu." Aquarius had never heard Kai call her that, had never known Kai to touch her mother or anyone.
"I don't know much, but one thing I do know is this; Wu Fei said something about them all being a part of this, being a part of a whole. They knew one another for years before I joined the team. They stuck close. The thirteen . . . there only seems to be eight now, Chang Wu Fei, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, Dorothy Catalonia, Relena Peacecraft/Darlien, Heero Yuy, Midii Une, and Lady Une . . . I don't know anything but that, and I promise that Chang won't keep me in the dark anymore than Relena does you."
Kai's furious promise helped Aquarius feel stronger.
"Thirteen . . ." Riu whispered softly. "What an unlucky number . . ."
