Author's Notes: I want to thank snowdragonct, Kaeru Shisho, and Sadie Woods for their reviews. A chapter of Heero and Trowa has such a different feel than Duo and Quatre, but I wanted to tell their part of the story too, because it's important to the overall picture. I was so excited to see that some people went to download the music! In case you missed the share link, here it is again: www-dot-mediafire-dot-com/?sharekeyb36dbb0ff0f6648f8c9e7c56ba37815f0ba2850049113844
This chapter is huge in the transitioning process because everyone's heading back to space and things are changing very quickly. In the next chapter, there will be more of a real reunion between certain pilots - as well as more of the "fill in the blanks" - I promise.
Chapter 8 – The World Has Its Shine (But I Would Drop It On A Dime) (Episodes 17 & 19)
o/ I'm not one for love songs
The way I'm living makes you feel like giving up
But you don't
And I want everything for you /o
"Well, this is it," Duo said softly, folding his hands behind his head and watching as Quatre locked the main gate to the retreat.
"The trip over the Indian Ocean isn't that long," the blond replied, shouldering his bag with a wistful glance back at what had been their home for the last six weeks. Part of me definitely wishes we could stay… "It's hard to believe that by this time tomorrow, we'll be back in space."
"Feels weird to be going home…" Duo murmured, turning as they heard voices coming up the dirt road from the village.
"I think your friends have come to say goodbye," Quatre set his bag down again as the group of children came running and surrounded the both of them, jabbering all at the same time.
"Translation?" Duo glanced at Quatre helplessly with a smile. He picked up a few words he recognized – friend, waterfall – but there were too many voices at once. "Ssshhh," he tried, bringing one finger to his lips.
"Wait, wait," Quatre spoke to them in their language, waving his hands until they stopped talking. He pointed at Bem and then translated for Duo when the boy spoke. "Ah, I see… they want us to know that even if we're leaving, we'll all remain friends."
"Of course!" Duo grinned and held out his hand so he and Bem could exchange the flashy handshake that he'd finally mastered. "Quatre, tell them that I promise to come back and visit. Tell them we'll all go back to the waterfall again!"
Quatre raised an eyebrow and started to object, quite aware of how volatile their position really was, but the determination in Duo's eyes stopped him. He could somehow tell that Duo didn't make promises lightly. Nodding, he translated for the group of children, who cheered and hugged them both in response.
Duo held out one pinky to Bem, reaching with his other hand to show the boy how to link his own. "Promise…" he pronounced very slowly and waited until Bem repeated him. He hoped that his friend understood and from the look in his eyes, it seemed that he did.
"We need to get going," Quatre leaned closer and said softly into Duo's ear. Disengaging himself from the group of children, the two pilots waved and started their trek through the jungle.
As they walked, Duo was uncharacteristically silent, his eyes flitting from rock to leaf to the sky above, as if he was trying to memorize all of it before they had to leave it behind. Of course, he had seen pictures and read books, but nothing compared to actually being here. He breathed in deeply as they approached the clearing where the carrier had been parked for the last six weeks and then let it out slowly.
"Are you okay?" Quatre asked softly, coming up beside him with a look of concern.
"Earth is a beautiful place, Quatre, isn't it?" Duo didn't wait for a response, but charged ahead into the clearing and climbed aboard the carrier. The Gundams were waiting in the cool and dark quiet and Duo reached out to run his hand along Deathscythe, much the same as he had when they'd left them. "Ready to go home?" he whispered.
o/ Hey oh!
And whatever it takes
Hey oh!
I'm gonna make my way home /o
Quatre let Duo fly the carrier this time, studying the maps and schematics and going over their plan out loud as they flew. He found that it was all too easy to slip back into being a pilot, as if the entire experience in Africa between arrival and departure was some sort of hazy dream. He kept watching Duo for signs that the other pilot wasn't okay, but he seemed focused and as cheerful as he could be, under the circumstances. I know something besides me set him off the day I found him in tears, but he never did tell me what it was…
It was midday when the two pilots left their carrier a few miles from the Singapore air base and traveled the rest of the way in their Gundams. "Time for the God of Death to send a few OZies to the other side!" Duo crowed, taking off immediately upon their arrival at the air base. Deathscythe and Sandrock moved around the edges of the base, easily destroying the first few suits they found, but as word of their arrival spread, Duo soon found himself a bit outnumbered. No matter how hard he fought, he was slowly pushed towards the center of the air field until he and Sandrock were back to back, defending their position.
"The numbers of troops don't match up with my research!" Quatre told Duo, his voice obviously strained as it came through one of the monitors. "We've got to break through if we're going to reach the transports!"
"This new OZ base isn't like their others!! I can't get any closer!" Duo whipped his scythe through several suits, but for every one he took out, two more seemed to appear in its place.
"Let's go for the HLV ready for mobile suit delivery!" Quatre told Duo, but no sooner had he made the suggestion than he took a hard blow and went flying backwards, hitting the ground face-down and skidding a hundred yards.
" Quatre!!" Duo's teeth were grit so hard his jaw hurt and he turned to slice through some mobile suits, heading for where Quatre was downed. Shit shit damnit! Duo was starting to doubt that they'd be able to get to the transports at all. "Don't overdo it, Quatre!"
"It's okay," Quatre's voice was a little shaky as he got to his feet again, but he took a deep breath and fixed a determined expression on his face. As long as we're still standing, the message is getting out there. "We have to fight so the other pilots will figure it out!"
Figure it out…? Duo's eyebrows raised in surprise as he watched Quatre ready his dual blades. Is this as much about trying to signal the other pilots as it is getting back into space?
"They'll see us battling like this and realize…that they need to go to outer space. That outer space is waiting for us!" Quatre whipped his two blades outwards and decimated the mobile suits closest to him. "To outer space! All of us, together!"
Duo realized quickly that Quatre was right – this was their opportunity to tell the other three pilots that they weren't going down without a fight, no matter how OZ continued to blackmail a surrender out of the colonies. There was no way to know what reaction they were going to provoke with this attack, but they would never know unless they tried.
"I read you loud and clear!" Duo grinned and, changing tactics, made a dash for the nearest observation tower, slicing it so that the entire thing collapsed on another half dozen mobile suits as Quatre used his dual blades to begin clearing a path in front of Duo leading towards the HLVs. Flipping on some more of his monitors, Duo was breathing hard as he scanned the reports. "Good. We made it into the news around the world!" He didn't see any of the other Gundams on the news, but paused when he saw the report coming in from one of the colonies. "What's this?"
"We wish to publicly announce a decision made by Space Colony Area D. Mobile suits known as Gundams are currently destroying OZ's facilities. These Gundams have nothing to do with Colony Area D. We declare that if the Gundams consider OZ an enemy then we'll consider the Gundams ours! OZ has been fair to us. OZ and we have worked out our misunderstandings. We hope that the Gundams are defeated in this battle. We further hope that other colonies will follow our example set with this declaration."
The sounds of battle dimmed and the world blurred in front of Duo's eyes as he exhaled slowly, feeling as if someone had ripped out his heart and stomped on it a few times. The colonies are denouncing us… just as I feared they might. "I expected this…" He closed his eyes and lowered his head, unable to keep the pained expression off of his face. "But even so, it's still hard to swallow!"
"It's all right, Duo," Quatre's eyes flickered to the monitor showing his friend's stricken face and felt his stomach churn. "We came down to Earth all alone. It's okay if the colonies don't understand right away. I'm just happy that others are fighting for the same cause. That's enough." The momentary distraction allowed another suit to attack him from behind, sending Quatre flying once more, his surprised yell echoing.
"Quatre!" Duo charged after his friend, but by now the shots were coming from all around, tripping him up. He soon found himself tumbling end over end, gripping the controls as he waited for Deathscythe to come to a stop.
Facedown in the dirt, Duo beat his hands against the controls for a moment. "Damn it! At this rate, we're not gonna make it!" No, I can't think that way… Quatre was right. He'd come down to earth alone, but he wasn't alone anymore. "I still think what we're doing is a good thing. So why do we have to die in a place like this?!" He closed his eyes and pursed his lips. Despite his past involvement with the church, he'd never been much of the praying sort, even when he thought his own death might be hovering close by. We'll get out of this. We have to… Somehow, someway, I'm gonna make it home…
o/ Hey oh!
And whatever it takes
Hey oh!
I'm gonna make my way home
Hey oh!
We can turn our backs on the past
And start over… /o
A bright orange-gold wall of fire on Duo's monitor caught his attention as he opened his eyes again, and a new voice suddenly boomed loudly in his ears as another monitor popped up. Through the blaze, a third Gundam was marching, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. The monitor blinked and a strong face with dark eyes and dark hair appeared.
"Because we're doing the right thing! We are right!"
Duo's eyes went wide and he glanced at Quatre's monitor to see that his friend had a look of pure joyful surprise on his face. "It's that guy!" he exclaimed to Quatre, realizing that he had no idea what the final pilot's name was.
"The ones who are right have to be strong!" The voice demanded, tossing aside every mobile suit that had crowded around Duo with surprising ease. "If this is your limit, so be it. The rest of us will take over from here." He turned to blow up two more mobile suits and then started towards Quatre's downed position.
Duo never could resist a challenge and his hands flew over the controls as he forced Deathscythe to right itself. "The rest of you will take over…?!" he cried indignantly, his spirit buoyed by the arrival of their ally.
"That's more like it!" the dark-haired boy smirked into the monitor. "You'd have a hard time explaining to your comrades if you were defeated now!"
Duo's heart flip-flopped at these words and he quickly scanned through more of his monitors as he swept aside several more mobile suits with his scythe. First, there was Trowa, blowing things up left and right and then, above him…
Wing was soaring across the sky, shooting down everything in its path. How… how is it possible? The last time Duo had seen that Gundam was in the news report on his monitor, after it had exploded.
Heero… he's… alive…
o/ Before I met you
I used to dream you up and make you up in my mind
And all I ever wanted
Was to be understood
You've been the only one who could
I could never turn my back on you /o
Duo wanted to laugh and cry and scream all at the same time, but he was still being attacked from every side. Quatre's face in the monitor was a mirror of his exuberant surprise. "They figured out we need help!" he managed to choke out to his friend, closing down all monitors besides those linked to his fellow pilots and the news report showing Trowa and Heero. Now was not the time to break down – they all had to get to outer space safely.
"They all understood our message!" Quatre's spirits were lifted and with the other pilot leading the way, he and Duo helped carve out a slow and steady path to the HLVs.
Heero had obliterated a good portion of the base with his beam cannon before leaving Trowa to attend to the rest of it. All along, he'd known he was going back to space and now the other Gundams had given him an excuse and a disguise.
"My mission's to wipe out OZ," he muttered to himself, steering Wing away from the airbase and towards the shore. "If they're headed for outer space, then I'll follow."
Climbing out at the shore, he set the controls to take the Gundam offshore and sink it. It was the best hiding spot he could come up with on short notice, but being outside any population center, he hoped it was enough. Bringing my Gundam to space when the entire world is watching us is ridiculous. I can blend in much faster if I don't have to worry about hiding it in space. It was worth the risk.
Turning back to the sand dunes behind him, he could still see explosions in the distance like bright fireworks in the sky above the base. If he ran, he might make it back there before Trowa took off.
Trowa wanted to kick himself for being so stubborn and mistrusting. Watching the reports rolling in as he and Heero were on the way to the air base had suddenly made everything so obvious. That kid… Quatre… he's been trying to unite us, all along.
As much as he could say that he hadn't known the other Gundams were allies, hadn't known he could trust the other pilots… it was all excuses. Quatre had extended an overture of friendship and trust to him and he'd walked away from it. I only told him my name because he asked me so kindly.
It had actually taken his unlikely friendship, if he could even call it that, with Heero to make him realize how poorly he'd treated the blond pilot. I can say that I didn't know any better back then, but… neither did Quatre. And he still reached out.
Now, as Trowa watched the fight taking place a continent away, he found his admiration for both of the other pilots growing. They had been the two brave enough to strike out and send the message. All he could do now was strive to uphold it.
"It's gonna be a difficult battle. But right now I sense peace in our five hearts."
o/ My disappointment
'Cause you've been left behind
And the world has its shine
I would drop it on a dime for you /o
The other pilot was the first to reach the HLV hangar, but Duo was not far behind him. Hopping down from Deathscythe, he ran over to join the Chinese boy at the controls for the HLVs. "Hey, thanks for the help…" Duo trailed off expectantly, crossing his arms over his chest with an easy smile on his face despite the life-or-death predicament they were currently in.
The other boy looked up from the controls and scowled at Duo's interruption. "Wu Fei," he bit out, and then, "I'm activating three of them. Load your mobile suit."
Duo nodded quickly, deciding that more small talk might just get him decked, and jogged back towards his Gundam. "By the way," he called back over his shoulder. "I'm Duo Maxwell and out there, that's Quatre…" Better to let him introduce himself when the time comes.
Wu Fei didn't answer him, so Duo grabbed the communicator out of Deathscythe and proceeded to set his Gundam to load onto the HLV before running to the window. "Hurry up, Quatre!"
"Those suits will try to shoot us down when we start to lift off," Quatre's voice came over the small speaker in Duo's hand.
"Hurry, Quatre!"
"Don't worry about me. I'll back you two up until you lift off!"
Duo could hear the pain and determination in his friend's voice and he ran to the entrance of the hangar, looking out at Sandrock standing its ground and refusing to let any suits come closer to the HLVs. "Have you lost your mind?!" he bellowed into the speaker, furiously upset. "We all have to make it to outer space!" You said we would! You said we were going together!
"I know, but that's why I have to back you up. To make sure that at least you two make it!"
The line turned to complete static – Quatre had turned him off. "Quatre!!" Goddamnit!! That's not good enough!! Duo stomped his foot, on the verge of tears, and bit his lip so hard he tasted blood. "You fool!!"
Duo knew there was nothing he could do now, though. Deathscythe was already loaded onto the HLV and Quatre obviously had no intention of changing his mind about being left behind. As he saw the red flash run across Sandrock that indicated the self-detonation had been set, Duo turned and bolted for his HLV as fast as his feet could carry him. Sitting down at the controls, his hands moved quickly despite the watering of his eyes. Goddamnit. It's a fucking miracle that Heero's alive and now I have to watch a second friend blow himself up? Are you fucking kidding me?!
As the craft soared high into the air, Duo set the autopilot to break free of the atmosphere, then plastered his hands and face to one of the windows and watched as Sandrock exploded brilliantly below him, a glorious fireball in the growing twilight. For a moment, his heart dropped into his stomach, but then he saw another pinpoint of light – a shuttle! It disappeared as Duo's HLV rose into the clouds, but he was somehow sure that Quatre had been on it.
Slumping against the wall, he slid slowly to the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them with a relieved noise that was half-laugh, half-sob.
On the first day of drifting in space, Duo set the controls to take him to the least populated sector, knowing he didn't have a lot of propulsion power left. He was too tired to even think straight and passed out in Deathscythe's cockpit for close to sixteen hours before he woke up.
On the second day of drifting in space, Duo raided the supplies he had with him that Quatre had prepared while they were still in Africa. Having not eaten in a day, he gorged himself to the point of stomachache, felt enormously guilty for eating 80 percent of his supplies in one sitting, and promptly fell asleep again.
It was sometime between the second and third days – he was already starting to lose track of time when he didn't remember to check the internal clock – that Duo started to really think about everything that had happened to lead him to this point. After all the time he'd spent with Quatre and Heero, it felt really strange to be alone, cooped up inside his Gundam cooped up inside an HLV, drifting in zero gravity.
He and Quatre had tentatively planned to return to Quatre's home together, but that was before the colonies' announcement, before Quatre had detonated Sandrock. Duo had no idea how to find Quatre or any of the other pilots – he was even more lost now than he had been on Earth. Outer space now felt like a giant and unwelcoming void that was slowly sucking him dry.
What the hell am I supposed to do now anyway? The colonies had essentially turned their backs on the Gundams, fully supporting OZ. How was he supposed to protect the colonies from OZ when they were accepting OZ with open arms? None of it made any sense. Duo stewed about it until he couldn't stand it any longer and then spent the next few hours trying in vain to pick up one of the inter-colony radio stations. Every now and then, he'd get thirty seconds to a minute of a song, but mostly it was just static.
Sometime close to the start of day four, Duo ran out of water and started feeling almost constantly dizzy. He still hadn't made any kind of decision about where to go or what to do next. He couldn't get back to earth, but he had nowhere in space to hide his Gundam. He'd refused to think about Heero until now, but half-delirious from being alone and dehydrated, he finally pulled out the photographs that he'd been keeping safe in the pocket of his jacket. The last time he'd looked at them, he'd thought the pictures to be a bittersweet reminder of their time together at the school. He wasn't sure what it meant to him now that Heero was alive.
Heero is alive.
The mere thought made him smile more than he had in days. I feel like it's been a lifetime since we left the school that day… He wondered if Heero had thought of him at all in the time they'd been apart. Sure, he'd left the photos with Duo, but what did that mean? They'd never made each other any promises. Neither of us is that foolish living as soldiers in the middle of a war. He really had begun to think that the other boy was dead and when he'd seen Wing on his monitor… How did he even get his Gundam back?
He sort of knew that he was starting to lose it around the time he started hallucinating that he smelled cheese pizza, so he began singing bits and pieces of songs to try and keep himself sane.
We all made it to space, but what am I supposed to do now when the colonies consider us the enemy? Duo had always been an optimist, but now he found his spirit faltering.
Duo could not have guessed what the day or the time was when Deathscythe suddenly started beeping, monitors flipping on to alert him of mobile suits approaching the HLV. He had supposed that someone would find him eventually, though part of him had also wondered if he would just die floating in space.
Without really thinking about what he was doing, Duo let Deathscythe demolish the HLV, emerging from the explosion and immediately taking out the nearest mobile suits. It was a rush to be fighting again, but everything felt so hazy that he wondered if was just hallucinating. "What an honor, being greeted by the latest model," he smirked to himself. "But anyone carelessly approaching me will die!"
Leaning forward and feeling a little manic, Duo realized he couldn't focus properly on the screens. He was sweating, hot and cold, watching helplessly and disoriented as the mobile dolls surrounded him. So much for the indestructible God of Death. "They're fast!"
A hard hit sent him careening to the side and he pounded the controls, shooting a projectile. "Damn! That didn't work either!" Another hit to the back sent him flying and he laughed weakly. "Zero output." Closing his eyes to block out the screens, he turned his head to the side in disgust. "My Deathscythe's bought it and I don't have long myself. But still, I'll die fighting!"
A third hit nearly knocked the wind out of him, blowing the right arm off of his Gundam and sending the scythe spinning away into space. No way I'm letting those OZ fuckers have Deathscythe. "I don't want to copy Heero, but tag along, on my journey into hell!! He punched the self-detonation switch with satisfaction and was met with…nothing.
Hahaha… are you fucking kidding me?! He punched it again, still with no result. "Not my lucky day," he muttered. "Can't even self-detonate." As Duo felt himself losing consciousness, he closed his eyes and tried to imagine the way the ocean had felt when he'd first run splashing into it… he tried to recall the sweet taste of the apple Heero had given him on the bus to the aquarium...recalled all too well the rushing sound of the river as it swallowed him whole… I'm not dead yet. And as long as I'm alive, there's always gotta be a way out. "Or maybe… I am lucky…?"
o/ Not long ago
I gave up hope
But you came along
You gave me something I could hold on to.
And I want to
More than you could ever know
It's you /o
Up Next: Chapter 9 - All We Are