Title: Song of Autumn
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama/Introspective
Pairing: Mentions of Kira/Lacus, Mwuu/Murrue, Tolle/Miriallia, Ssigh/Fllay, Gilbert/Talia, Shinn/Stellar
Word Count: 550
Summary: So as the chill begins to seep into the air- they remember and cherish the stories the autumn winds bring.

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A warm golden-brown leaf begins its descent; spiraling, free-falling and digging up long forgotten memories of the past. To some, the leaf seems to be stained red; to others, it was still green and still alive but the wind tore it away from the branches before its time. But whatever color, whatever the story, autumn came without hesitation to the sleeping world.

And each tale is different, each memory solidified in the slumbering recesses of their minds. It is something they cannot, will-not, and simply do not want to forget. So as the chill begins to seep into the air- they remember and cherish the stories the autumn winds bring.

A boy, hiding behind his computer and immersing himself in work, thinks of how the pale red leaves outside his window look oh so much like her hair. She's gone now, from him- from this earth.

A girl remembers her first kiss beneath the orange-red tree on the school grounds. He had been so shy at first yet still so sweet. The photograph in her hand shares the memory, the reflection the only way he can smile back at her now.

A man recalls two memories from two minds. One of a young girl dancing about the leaves, and how he felt so much like a stifling Father when he told her to return inside. Another of a beautiful brown-haired woman and the heated night they spent together. A woman, he notes with a smile, that makes a wonderful Mother to the young boy they adopted.

A woman gone, left her young son with a story. A tale of that fated autumn day when she said goodbye to love to pursue her maternal desires. Now the boy lives with another captain from the war, and she tells him stories of how formidable an opponent his Mother had been.

A youth, his eyes no longer filled with vengeance, thinks of how much his sister loved playing in the autumn leaves. He wonders if the girl he loved, buried now in the deep snow, would have enjoyed them too.

A youth, with eyes of dulled innocence, thinks of many things. How the falling leaves seem so much like the falling of Junius 7. How the browns and reds bring back images of muddy and bloodstained battles he'd been witness to. Yet he knows- once the leaves fall, once winter has melted away- spring will come and a new day, a future free of the past, will begin. And with that thought, he smiles.

Then, much like the rhythmic falling of the leaves, a song begins. A voice, singing not only for herself- but for others weaves a peaceful melody.

She sings of tomorrow- of the spring that will come after the cold of winter. She sings for the girl in the photograph, remembering her songs like they were her own. She sings of love, for the brown-haired youth who stands by her side. Each word rings true, embracing all the people lost in their memories and reassuring them that a brighter future awaits them.

And as the dusky autumn sun sets on the horizon, her words bring hope to those thinking of the past.

One day, we will make it there
Because in this wintered sky
We still believe
Fields of Hope

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