Gundam Wing Meets the Little Prince

Chapter Two: The Star-Prince Chronicles

When Trowa finally managed to get back to the Quatre's desert base with the Little Prince and his gluslog following behind him, the other pilots had already put on their cooler evening space suits and started evaluating their Gundam units for errors. Trowa wandered in the mobile suit hanger with a rather grumpy expression on his face that made Duo laugh in spite of himself.

"What's wrong, Trowa; you don't like taking care of kids? I think he's pretty cool, myself. You could really learn something from him."

Trowa ignored Duo as he put his Gundam Heavyarms on autopilot and had it walk into docking bay on its own. The Little Prince still had a smile on his face as he jumped off his gluslog and guided it to an empty docking bay where Trowa had instructed him to put it earlier. The gluslog yawned as the Little Prince tied it to the first tier of the docking bay and held out some foreign-looking plants for it to eat. The gluslog lazily gulped them up and then lay down to sleep for the night. The Little Prince then headed over to Duo's docking bay and stared up at his Gundam in curiosity.

"What are you doing, friend Duo?"

Duo winked at the Little Prince and pointed toward the blowtorch in his right hand.

"I'm making some repairs on my Gundam unit. It's always better to be prepared."

The Little Prince didn't seem satisfied with Duo's answer and asked the same question again. Trowa gave a smirk as he walked passed Deathsythe's docking bay to talk to Heero. He looked up at Duo and remarked; "Now you see what I had to deal with all the way here. You owe me big, Duo. It's your time to babysit the kid."

Duo tried to protest but the Little Prince hopped up on his Gundam unit and stared up at him with his big blue eyes.

"You know something, Duo, you remind me of a man I once met on a distant world."

Duo sighed and threw his blowtorch down. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get any work done with the Little Prince around.

"Oh really? What was this man like? Was he super cool?"

The Little Prince shrugged.

"I don't know what that means. I guess so. Well, that is to say, if by 'super cool' you mean lonely."

Duo felt his heart skip a beat.

"Lonely? Hey kid, are you sure that guy really reminded you of me?"

The Little Prince nodded.

"Yeah; he was just like you. See, this man lived on a world where nothing else existed. There were no trees, no plants, no animals…nothing as far as the eye could see. In order to entertain himself he would tell jokes all day long. I guess jokes were his only friend on that lonely world."

"When I happened upon him he was telling a joke about a baboon. The only problem is that since nothing was on the man's word, he didn't know very much about baboons and his joke wasn't very funny. When I saw the man he said I would make the perfect audience. I figured I would stay a while. The man seemed very lonely, after all."

"He told me many jokes but I didn't think any of them were funny. All at once he asked me why I wasn't laughing. I told the man that I didn't find his jokes very funny. He told me to laugh anyway. So I did. He said I made a very good audience. He wanted me to stay and laugh at his jokes forever, but I had to leave."

"So I said goodbye to the man and I left to go to another world. You remind me of that man a lot, friend Duo. But unlike him, I think your jokes are funny. I can laugh at them without being told. That makes you more honorable than the man I met on that distant world so long ago in my opinion."

Duo looked at the Little Prince with sadness in his eyes.

"Hey, how did you know that I was…?"

Before Duo could finish Heero and Trowa appeared below his Gundam carrying two space readers.

"Hey are you going to spend all night tuning up your Gundam or are you going to help us with our mission?"

Duo stared at the Little Prince for a few minutes and then nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah…sure. I'll be right down."

Duo hopped down from the second tier of the docking port and followed Heero and Trowa to the docking bay where the Little Prince had tied up his gluslog. The Little Prince found himself to be very bored without Duo around so he wandered across the mobile suit hanger until he happened upon Quatre who was working on his mobile suit unit. Unlike Duo, Quatre seemed to be taking his repairs at a steady pace and didn't seem to be in too big of a hurry to get them all done. The Little Prince hopped onto the third tier of the docking bay where Quatre was inspecting one of the wires in his mobile suit's legs. The Little Prince sat across from Quatre and stared at him curiously.

"What are you doing, friend Quatre?"

Quatre turned around and smiled at the Little Prince.

"I'm just making sure my mobile suit is in good working order."

The Little Prince frowned.

"No, I mean what are you doing here? What are you doing in this place?"

Quatre laughed and patted the Little Prince's head.

"That a very long and complicated story, Little Prince. I guess if you needed a quick answer, though, it's because it's my duty as a mobile suite pilot."

The Little Prince tilted his head to the side and looked out the hanger window onto the night sky.

"That's very interesting, friend Quatre. You know, you remind me of someone I once knew."

Quatre ruffled the Little Prince's hair and turned back to his work.

"Is that so? Who do I remind you of?"

The Little Prince wrapped his legs around the third tier of the hanger and hung upside-down.

"You remind me of a man I met on one of my travels a long time ago. This man lived on a world that had everything. It had trees, plants, animals, insects, and mountains as far as the eye could see. This world also had many types of people. The man claimed to own lots of land. In fact, he owned almost all the land of the world, though he was not a king. It was something his family had bought a long time ago."

Quatre nodded to let the Little Prince know he was listening, even though he was pulling out cables from his Gundam's right leg. The Little Prince continued on.

"Even though this man had everything, he felt very hollow inside. He was not a cruel man in any way. He was just very lonely. To help ease his loneliness he would make one hundred friends a day. Pretty soon the man knew everyone on the planet but despite that fact he still felt empty inside."

"It was on one of these days when the man was feeling particularly lonely that I met him in one of the jungles of his world. He was introducing himself to all of the fish in the river when I showed up. Right away he introduced himself to me and I told him my name too. Then he wandered off without another word. I observed this man introducing himself to many people around the world but he never stayed past the introduction. I found this very odd and I continued to follow him, hoping he would notice me."

"Finally after months of following him, he spotted me tagging along and he asked me a question. 'Why are you following me around the world, Little Prince? Can't you see I am trying to introduce myself to everyone? It's very busy work.' Adults are very funny. They get so caught up in work that I guess they forget the things they set out to do."

"I told the man that I was following him because we were friends. To be friends, you have to make an effort to know them. You can't just go hurrying off after they know your name or you will always be lonely. However, if you get to know even just one friend, your life will be fulfilled."

"The man agreed to let me be his friend. We traveled around the world telling stories together, hunting and fishing. One day, I had to go. The man wanted me to stay but in the end I had to take my leave. I think that was the only time the man had ever cried. I was the only friend he had ever made, you see, and I had to go. But I heard later from a falling star that the man has made at least two friends since I have been there, so my heart doesn't feel so burdened. For some reason you remind me of that man, friend Quatre."

Quatre dropped his wrench and looked back at the Little Prince.

"Little Prince…how do you about…"

Before Quatre could finish, Trowa climbed onto the tier and pointed toward the gluslog below where Duo and Heero appeared to be having some kind of argument.

"Listen Quatre, I'm sorry to disturb you, but those two won't listen to a word I say. Will you mind lending me a hand with this? You are pretty even tempered; I know that they will listen to you."

Quatre stared absent mindedly at the Little Prince for a few moments and then nodded.

"Ok, Trowa. I will come help you guys. Do your best to calm those two down before I get there would you?"

Trowa nodded and reluctantly headed back to the place where the gluslog was tied up on his own while Quatre put the cables back into his Gundam unit and packed his tools neatly away. Before he made his way down the tier to help the others, he stared back at the Little Prince with a hint of sadness in his eyes. The Little Prince smiled and did a cartwheel onto the first tier. This brightened Quatre's spirits a bit as he made his way to the docking chamber where the Little Prince had tied his gluslog to bring an end to his friend's dispute. The Little Prince did a second cartwheel in midair that lead him onto a catwalk leading to Shenlong's docking bay. Wufei was on the fifth tier of the docking bay making repairs to his mobile suit's face chamber. The Little Prince stared up at him in curiosity and hopped up the tiers until he reached the tier Wufei was standing on. Wufei looked back to see the Little Prince doing a handstand behind him. The oldest of the Gundam pilots was less than thrilled to see him. He sighed and went back to his job repairing his mobile suit's face mask, trying his best to ignore the Little Prince. The Little Price dropped to the ground from his handstand and watched Wufei work while lying on his stomach.

"You know friend Wufei, you remind me of someone I once knew."

Wufei pretended to ignore the Little Prince and continued working on his Gundam. The Little Prince didn't seem to mind and continued on with his story.

"Yes, you remind me of a man I once met on a world not too far from here. This man was the greatest sword master on his world. He had even surpassed his master. Even so, this man was not fulfilled. Since he was the best, he could never find a worthy opponent to challenge him in battle. This made the man feel very alone."

"He wanted someone to look up to and learn from. I met this man training by an old tree. He was very quick with his sword and every cut he made on the training board he was sparing with was true. I watched him for a while before I approached him with an outstretched hand. 'I am the Little Prince,' I said. 'And who are you?' The man looked sadly at me and said, 'I am a man without a worthy opponent. A warrior without an opponent means nothing to the world. You can call me a warrior without a cause.' I thought that was a funny name but I respected his wishes."

"I asked the warrior without a cause why it was so important to find someone who surpassed him in battle. Warrior without a cause said that we learn from those who are better than us but if there is no one to learn anything from, then it is impossible to be fulfilled. The warrior without a cause was an adult, and I find adults to be very silly. They are always looking for answers to questions that don't matter. Nonetheless, I decided to help warrior without a cause find a worthy opponent."

"We searched all over his world and even a few words close by, but there was no one that surpassed his skill. Finally, after many months of searching the warrior without a cause gave up. He knew then that there was no one in this side of the galaxy that could surpass his skill. He was feeling very sorry for himself one day when I decided to challenge him to a sword fight to cheer him up."

"Warrior without a cause laughed a hearty laugh and said I would surely loose. There was no way that someone as small as me could possibly win against the strong and powerful warrior without a cause. However, we fought anyway. And do you know what? I won! It was really a fluke that I did. Warrior without a cause was so busy laughing about my size that I had time to tie his shoelaces together. When he came charging forward, he tripped instantly and dropped his sword. I won by default."

"You wouldn't think so, the way that man fawned over me after that. He followed me all over the world and told me to teach him my secret techniques. I told him everything I knew, but I was still able to beat him in every fight. One day, the warrior without a cause beat me and after many months of training, he again became the strongest warrior on this side of the galaxy."

"This made him very sad but I found this all to be very silly. 'If you are the best on this side of the galaxy, then why don't you use that skill to teach others?' I told him. 'There is great fulfillment in learning, but even greater fulfillment in teaching. They say that a man who teaches others never stops learning. This is because a teacher learns from the people he teaches.' The warrior without a cause said that I might have a point and started teaching other people on his word what he knew."

"From that day forward, the warrior without a cause had a sense of fulfillment and the last time I heard, he changed his name. The stars call him Warrior who is fulfilled because he gives back to others. I do not know why you remind of that man friend Wufei, but somehow you do. Isn't that strange?"

Wufei had stopped working on his Gundam a while back and looked at the Little Prince with a pale face.

"Tell me this; how do you that I was…"

Before Wufei could finish, Heero came stomping by and threw his space reader on the floor causing it to shatter into three smaller pieces.

"I'm tired of working on that project. I'm heading back to work on Wing Gundam. Quatre wants you to help them analyze that stupid piece of rock inside of that kid's Gluslog. He says you have more expertise when it comes to lunar calculations. I think that he is right. Don't let Duo get on your nerves. He's been in a bad mood this whole time. I couldn't tell you why. Anyway, go help out alright? Quatre needs all of the help he can get."

Wufei gave a curt nod in Heero's direction.

"Alright…I'll help them quantify their data on the asteroid. I'll be right down."

Wufei looked back at the Little Prince and narrowed his eyes. The Little Prince only smiled and did a walking handstand down each tier until he reached the first. There was something about the way the Little Prince couldn't keep his balance that made Wufei feel at peace inside…and almost smile. Of course he didn't. Before he had the urge, he packed up his tools, reconnected his Gundam's face mask, and headed down to help the others mobile suit pilots with their problem. The Little Prince was bored again as he wandered around the desert hanger. Somewhere near the back, he spotted Heero working on the Wing Gundam and decided to watch. Heero frowned when he saw the Little Prince walk up behind him and observe his work.

"Do you mind? I am trying to put the finishing touches on my Wing Gundam. Go play with the others."

The Little Prince watched Heero grumpily climb the first and second tier so he could start working on his Gundam's cockpit. He tilted his head to the side and then plopped down right in front of the Wing Gundam with a big smile on his face.

"You know, friend Heero, you remind me of a man I once knew."

Heero frowned deeper and replied shortly, "I am not your friend. Please leave me alone. Go bother the others."

The Little Prince only laughed and stared up at Heero with his big blue eyes.

"Yes, you definitely remind me of that man I once knew. I met him on a world far away from here. On this world, there were only two people; the man who I mentioned before, and a woman. Can you imagine! The man lived in the west and the woman lived in the east. They were divided by a grand ocean, and each lived on separate landmasses."

"The woman lived on a continent of flowers, lakes, and beautiful scenery as far as the eye could see. The man lived on a continent of deserts, small oasis, mountains and rough terrain which stretched from one end of the land mass to the other. The man knew that the woman existed but he was not interested in being her friend. The man was content living on his own. However, the man was still lonely. To cure his loneliness, he would spend hours thinking of ways to rid himself of the woman so he could have the world all to himself."

"The woman always tried to be his friend but this aggravated the man. He did not want someone to care for him. He wanted the world to belong to him and only him so he could explore it properly, record all of the data, and have his exploration journals for company. I met the man while he was exploring a cave. I said hello to him but he did not respond. I said hello again and he told me to go away. I thought this was very odd so I followed the man. I watched as he wrote plans about how to rid himself of the woman to the east in his journal."

"One plan was to convince her that her landmass was cursed but he realized that would cause her to move to his. Another plan involved sending her away on an asteroid, but none ever came close enough to grab. I watched him write all of these plans in his travel journal and one day I told him that I thought he was very funny. Adults are always funny. They don't take the time to understand how they feel. They try to give themselves temporary fixes to their problems. That is why I think they are all very foolish."

"Even so, I decided to have some fun with the man. I took all of his travel journals and gave them to the woman in the east. The woman looked through them and learned all sorts of things about the landmass to the west. This inspired her to make her own travel journals. She spent many years collecting all of the data and writing it down. When she was finished, I asked the woman if I could give them to the man in the west. She said that she would be honored if I did so I delivered them to the man."

"The man looked quite desperate when I showed up. All of his travel journals had gone missing and he had spent the whole three years I was with the woman trying to find them again. When he saw the stack of travel journals I was carrying, he grabbed them and started to read them. He was desperate for information, because data was his only friend. He read the travel journals and soon found out that they belonged to the woman in the east. However, something strange happened when he began to read them."

"There was something about the way she wrote about her land that made the man want to go there. He read every one of her travel journals and when he had savored every word on each page he realized that he was in love with her. The man traveled to the east to meet the woman on her land. However, when he got there, the woman was dead. She had been waiting for the man to realize that he loved her all that time, but in the end it was too late. She died from a snake bite wound. If the man had been there only one day sooner he could have saved her life."

"So it came to pass that the world that once had two people only had one. The man returned to making his travel journals but this time he felt a sense of fulfillment. Even though the woman was not on his world, he could still read her words in the travel journals she left behind. These words taught him kindness and that kindness was able to tame the man. In time, the woman's words taught the man to be humble and ultimately taught him how to love people other than himself."

"I became good friends with the man after that. There was only two times I ever saw him cry. One was when he found the woman's body that fateful day and the second was when I left. But you will always shed a tear for someone you love, so there was no shame in the times he cried. I don't know why you remind me of that man, friend Heero. But somehow you do. Isn't that strange?"

Heero dropped his L-7 system driver. It made a large clang as it reached the floor of the desert hanger. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes when he turned around to face the Little Prince.

"You…how did you know that I care about…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Trowa showed up with dark circles under his eyes.

"I'm exhausted. Listen, Heero; I know that you and Duo aren't getting along to well right now but can you please help out for a while? I need a break."

Heero looked past Trowa to the Little Prince and stared at him in silence for a few minutes. The Little Prince smiled and walked rolled across the floor to where Trowa stood waiting for Heero's reply. Heero snapped out of his daze when he saw Trowa's face twist up in aggravation and gave a small salute in his direction.

"My mind was somewhere else. I don't know what I was thinking. Alright; I'll help the others with the project. Just give me a few minutes to wrap things up here."

Heero packed his repair equipment away and concentrated on putting the final touches on his Gundam unit before heading back to help his friends with their project. He didn't look back at the Little Prince when he made his way to the hanger where the young boy had left his gluslog. There was something that changed about him though. He couldn't explain what it was but there was a small part of him that had changed after hearing the Little Prince's story. He arrived to find Duo doing an ultra-reading on the gluslog's intestinal tract. Heero took the reader from him and gestured for him to take a break. Duo handed the system reader to him and stepped back in shock.

"Heero…you really want to help?"

Heero didn't say anything as he finished the reading on his own while the other mobile suit pilots looked on in astonishment.