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Segment 7:
Heaven Dreamt, Hell Realized
Summary:
While reflecting on the events of the past week, Quatre comes across a scrap of newspaper proclaiming the discovery of a "psychic girl". Upon reading it, the name "Raye Hino" surfaces, and he makes a connection between the name and that of Hino Rei. Meanwhile, Trowa and Lady Une have been denied the funding necessary to infiltrate the Leute, so they decide upon an alternate, more dangerous plan; to adopt a Leute posing as a child. Dorothy Catalonia receives a visit from her ex-husband, Quatre, and they discuss the psychiatric hospital known as Saint Teresa's. She agrees to provide information for him, and he departs for Earth.
Amy Mizuno,also known as Amy Anderson and Mizuno Ami, stood alone on the deserted stretch of pebble-strewn beach. She closed her eyes and inhaled, letting the invigorating scents of salt, rain, and ocean fill her nostrils. But the wind was sharp too. It seemed no matter where she went, everywhere it was cold. Though there was less bite in the air than there'd been in Kiel, Oregon wasn't proving to be much warmer. However, she had once been a mistress of ice; the cold didn't bother her as much as it did others.
She released the breath in a sad sigh. True, she was grateful to Sally for allowing her these few hours alone, but she knew it wasn't enough. How could she expect them to understand? Understand the pain answering all those questions brought. She had sworn to tell nothing about the other Senshi, but sometimes revealing little details was unavoidable. Still, most things had been kept secret.
The worst of it all was the endlessness of it. It would've been easier if it had been Sally doing the questioning, or even if it were her dour, somewhat intimidating partner Wufei. But it never was. Usually it was a man called Jack Marseile, who always asked things she had no answer to, or else a woman named Angela DeLantre, who was underhanded and frequently tried to trick her into answering dangerous questions. So now, more than ever, Amy appreciated the break.
"You've lost weight, Ami-chan," a soft voice commented. Amy's eyes snapped open and her breath caught in her throat. She knew that voice.
Slowly, she turned around and came face to face with Meioh Setsuna.
"Setsuna-san…" she murmured.
Setsuna smiled, and placed a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "Hello, Ami-chan."
"H-how did you find me here?" Amy stammered, taking a step back.
"Sally told me you'd be here."
"Sally?"
The ESIA agent turned to face the water. "Of course. How else do you think she knew?"
Amy shook her head in disbelief. "You mean you actually told her? About us? The Leute? Serenity?"
"Not everything," Setsuna admitted. "And some thing's had to be glossed over a bit, but she knows the basics. They all do."
"They?"
"Wufei, Heero, Quatre, Trowa, Duo, maybe even Zechs and Lucrezia, if Lady Une has them involved," she replied.
Amy cocked her head. "Setsuna, who are you talking about?"
"Don't tell me you've forgotten Quatre already," a gruff voice muttered.
Setsuna smiled as a sandy-haired woman made her way down the beach towards them. "Haruka. I was wondering if you'd appear here."
Amy paled. She'd been surprised to see Setsuna, but now she was terrified to see Haruka. "Haruka-san? What are you doing here?"
"I was in Salem. Setsuna told me to meet you two here," she answered shortly.
The three women looked at each other in silence.
Amy shook her head and looked out at the ocean. "Funny how much all of us have changed. I mean, if this were Crystal Tokyo, it wouldn't be this awkward for us to just talk to each other."
"People always change, Ami-chan. We're no exception to that," Setsuna answered quietly.
"So why is it you wanted me out here?" Haruka asked, breaking the nostalgic mood.
Setsuna's expression hardened as an aura of business descended upon her. "We need to keep each other updated. Things are going to pick up from here, I think. No doubt the Leute know about Ami-chan by now. Not only will she be a target, but if we start emerging, they'll be scared into making a move. I'm worried about what it might be."
"You're the Guardian of Time and you have no clue?" Haruka blinked.
"There are several possible outcomes. If they do have one of the others, they may increase efforts to get power or answers from them. Or, they may decide to launch their attack on Earth, if they don't have one of us. Or else they could go off and do something completely random," she answered.
"So nothing is set in stone then," Amy looked back at them.
Setsuna nodded. "Be very careful, Ami-chan. Haruka and I are still fairly safe, but you've been exposed. Don't go off by yourself like this again. Stay in the cities, preferably with Sally or Wufei. Trust only those people I named before."
"Quatre's going to be a little busy though," Haruka pointed out. At this, even Setsuna was puzzled.
"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.
"He's going after Rei. I got a phone call from him last night. We're going to Saint Teresa's this weekend to get her," Haruka answered.
"What?" Amy gasped. "Haruka, are you crazy? You, of all people…"
"Hey, your hands aren't exactly clean either," she shot back. Amy flinched.
Haruka narrowed her eyes, sighed, and went on. "If anyone can help her, it'll be Quatre. He's a good kid."
"He's twenty-five years old, Haruka. Hardly a "kid" anymore," Setsuna replied.
"Oh! Quatre Raberba Winner! That's the little boy whose picture is in your wallet, isn't it Haruka-san?" Amy cried.
Haruka blushed slightly. "Yeah…yeah. Catherine's son."
Setsuna smiled at her usually cold friend. "You must be proud of him, Haruka. He's grown into a kind, caring man. You're right, if anyone can bring Rei-chan back to us, he can."
"I hope so," Amy said softly. "I really hope so."
Setsuna gently patted her on the back. "Courage, Ami-chan. Courage."
For the first time since she had left her home, since she had left the life she had loved and dreamed of all her life, Amy smiled. "Thank you, Setsuna-san. And Haruka-san."
"Hn," Haruka grunted. "I'll keep in touch," she muttered, then strode off down the beach in the direction she'd come.
"Remember what I said about being alone," Setsuna warned, then followed Haruka off into the mists.
Amy smiled again and shook her head, then picked up a small stone from the ground and hurled it into the waves.
Shuttle Alpha 47, destined to land on the moon in the area of four hours, was delayed. Heero sat in the waiting area with his laptop open and a bottle of water next to him. His eyes scanned down the collections of useless information on Crystal Tokyo, information Mizuno Ami had confirmed via an E-mail from Wufei a few days ago. While the questions of the past were being answered, and the information on the Leute was certainly helpful, the former Senshi's wealth of memories and answers were starting to wear thin.
Taking a gulp of water, he checked his e-mail. Nothing. This wasn't a good sign; Trowa and Lady Une were supposed to have adopted a Leute by now, and Duo was having no luck locating "Red Delta" in the colonies. It was as if everything had stopped.
Suddenly, Heero's cell phone rang. He frowned; very few people knew his number. Pulling it out of his backpack, he quickly answered.
"What is it?" he greeted shortly.
"Are you near a TV?" a low voice asked.
Heero narrowed his eyes. "Who is this?"
There was a hesitation, as if the person on the other end of the line was trying to decide how to answer. "You know."
Realization dawned on him. "Zechs."
"Wherever you are, turn on the TV or else get to a news site on the net," Zechs answered. "There's something you ought to see."
Heero quickly got on the Global News Net. He blinked as he saw a video window open.
In it was a young boy (girl?) with white blond hair and penetrating black eyes. He recognized the child as Elijah Bailey, the Secretary of Defense's son. In the background was Roderick Bailey himself, being restrained by two more children, a blond and a redhead. Both had similar black eyes. Normally, this would be a cause for alarm, but Bailey appeared calm, even indifferent to the situation. It was as if he didn't even realize anything going on around him.
"Citizens of Earth Sphere," the white haired child began. "You may recognize both the man behind me and myself. I am known to you as Elijah Bailey, son of Roderick Bailey. However, the time has come to end that little delusion."
Other people who'd been waiting for the shuttle began to watch the computer screen from behind Heero. All wore expressions of shock, confusion, and fear. All except Heero, of course.
"My name is Eljira ak Zhul. I am the Head of Leute Society. For centuries, we have lived on this planet and on your colonies, Earth citizens. And for centuries, we have been imprisoned into the lives of children, been forced to hide amongst the weakest of you for fear of persecution. We are not of this world, and are therefore seen as enemies. And for this," a cruel smile crossed Eljira's pale face. "we have indeed become your enemies."
Suddenly, Eljira whirled around and waved a hand towards the other two Leute. The blond instantly shoved Roderick Bailey to his knees, while the other produced a long, surrogated knife. In one swift movement, the red haired Leute shoved the knife into Roderick's throat and slashed downwards to his navel. And even as the Secretary died, with blood spurting out of the long gash in his torso, he still did not seem to realize anything going on.
Eljira turned back to the camera, smile gone. "This is a warning, Earth citizens. Your world is about to change. The Leute will not stand for your discrimination and abuse any longer."
The window went black.
Heero raised his head and looked around at the people staring at the computer screen. Many were crying. Others were just staring at it in shock, unsure of weather it was real or not. An elderly couple a few feet away were holding each other closely.
Slowly, Heero brought the cell phone back up to his face. "Zechs?"
"I'm still here," he answered.
"Where can we rendezvous?"
"Noin is in Osaka for the week. I'm flying down to meet her tomorrow," Zechs answered.
"Tomorrow night then. 1900 hours. The Global Spaceport," Heero answered.
Zechs hesitated again. "Even in a national emergency, you never change Heero"
They hung up.
Back on L4, it was storming outside. Dorothy stood in the parlor where she'd had lunch with Quatre two days before and stared out the window. It never made sense to her what the point of a storm was, what the colony officials were trying to do when they set up a storm with the weather system. Rain was understandable, but a near hurricane conditions like there was now?
She ran a finger down the cool, damp windowpane, boredom sinking in. She wasn't really ready to go to bed, but there was little else to do. Unless…
Smiling to herself and shaking her head, she walked to a closet near the door and drew out a long black raincoat.
"Nancy?" she called to the housekeeper who was currently cleaning up the kitchen. "I'm going out for a walk!"
"In this weather?" the elderly woman cried, but Dorothy was gone before there could be any argument.
She enjoyed the feel of the rain pelting down on her hooded head. The thunder sent shivers of excitement down her back and pumped adrenaline through her veins. The lightning illuminated the soaked trees and made the rain look like billions of falling stars. She breathed in deep. Something about the storm made her feel alive, made her feel powerful.
As she walked, she softly hummed some nameless tune she'd heard at some point in her childhood. But moments later, barely audible beneath the thunder and rain, she heard someone else humming too.
She stopped, and listened. The hummer stopped as well. Slowly, she reached inside her jacket and drew out a gun.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" she demanded, looking around.
Sure enough, a few feet to her left a petite figure emerged from the darkness.
"I'm sorry," a feminine voice apologized. "I'm trespassing aren't I? Please forgive me."
Dorothy blinked and narrowed her eyes. "I suppose…"
The woman before her had no raincoat, and wore simply a red sweater and a pair of jeans. Her face was red from the cold and she looked feverish.
"Um…you all right?" she asked.
"I'm fine," the woman answered, but hugged her body tightly. Her eyes looked upwards and locked with Dorothy's. "You don't suppose I could stop in and warm up in your home though, could I?"
"Abso—" Dorothy began, about to send the transient packing, but another flash of lightning suddenly reveal the woman in her entirety to her. A slow, scheming smile spread across the heiress's face as she recognized her. "Of course," she replied. "Right this way."
As she led the woman back to the mansion, she tried not to laugh at the irony.