The Moon and the Stars
Chapter 7
I hadn't been there in so long. My childhood memories, my dreams, they all take place here. I go here to escape it all…
Crystal Park, Gundam Street
"Well this is it. This is what I wanted to show you." Relena said when they arrived before the old park, its dying grass and rusty gate were uninviting. She walked forward, a gust of wind blew her hair back and she closed her eyes as if embracing an old friend, rejoicing in their memories together. Heero was captivated by the beauty of her image before him. Relena turned towards him and put out her hand, smiling. "Come with me." She ushered him in her soft voice and he followed her down the path into the park.
They reached a swing that hung close to a small body of water and stretched out into a bigger lake. "Here," Relena stated, "is where I used to come when I was sad. When I wanted to escape it all." She stared for a while at the dirty green water that in her dreams she imagined as a clear blue. "There is only one swing because when they renovated the park, they moved everything farther from the water." Relena looked at Heero upon finishing her sentence. His eyes searched hers for an answer for why they did so. "Well, there was a kid who drowned here. I mean they don't really know but they believe he swung in and just never came back." Relena moved to the lone swing and sat in it, as Heero moved towards the water. "The water, isn't deep enough to drown in though, but it leads into that great body of water. No one knows if he swam out there or just ran away, but he's never been seen again. The swing has been left in his memory. For me this swing has always symbolized a way out. A way to better things if I just managed to…" She dragged on the last word, her eyes became distant, lost in thought. Relena shook her head staring at Heero's back. Quietly she apologized, "I'm sorry, I…" but couldn't finish the sentence.
"My mother is a drug addict." Heero said emotionlessly, his eyes looking out to the large body of water beyond. "She abuses drugs in order to escape her reality and what she has become. Its like she's way out there drowning herself and here I am watching." He turned to face Relena on the swing and held out his hand, then said "But I can still reach you." The warmth Relena felt from his gesture and especially in his eyes, although his expression was unchanged made the tears well up in her eyes. She pushed them away furiously with one hand, smiled weakly despite them and took his hand in hers. With that they took the path out her escape, because she finally found what she had been looking for here.
Story written by Despair's Desire