Title: The Power of Nature
Author: Karina
Rating: PG
Pairing: Duo + Milliardo
Notes: Challenge 202. Baby Series 4 #62. Takes place the day following Decisions.
Spoilers: None
Warnings:
Many thanks to ShenLong Deb for her work betaing this set of fics.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the Characters from the series but the baby is mine.
Title: The Power of Nature
"It is really quite remarkable how we never appreciate something, or someone for that matter, until it is gone. Appreciation is not something we give thought to, as a rule."
Duo tilted his head back, staring up into the deepening blue of the sky. "It's a failing of the human race to not realise the lapse until it proves to be too late. Thinking about it, I don't think there will be all that big an impact on the skyline."
Milliardo inclined his head to consider the view. The massive cliff soared above New Port City, outcroppings of green marking where particularly stubborn, hardy bushes and plants clung precariously to life in a crevice in the rock-face. The waterfall was spectacular, soaring out over the cliff, cascading in a thundering demonstration of the power of nature. It was the power of the falls they intended to harness, to boost the country's precariously balanced power supplies.
"The less obvious, the better. The impact of the entire complex needs to be as low key as possible. The rate of the falls must be maintained as well, though I think the people in the area affected by the spring melt might appreciate a somewhat lesser flow at that time of the year."
Duo inclined his head slightly. "You have no idea how odd it seems to someone born and raised on the Colonies to see the sheer destructive power of nature. We don't experience extremes of weather. Droughts, floods, tsunami's, hurricanes, typhoons, tornado's, cyclones... Hey, I never did understand the difference between a typhoon, hurricane and cyclone. Maybe you can explain it to me?"
Milliardo shook his head slightly. "There is no real difference, Duo. The storms rotate in opposite directions, counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in the southern hemisphere. It is just a name coming from a different culture to give recognition to a phenomenon of nature. A typhoon has its origins in the western Pacific region or Indian Ocean, cyclones as well, whilst hurricanes are called hurricanes pretty much exclusively along the American coastlines from the Atlantic to the Pacific."
"Weather fascinates me. Its so... Raw. Primal. It has such wild extremes. I was caught in a few storms soon after coming to Earth and I admit, the first few times I cowered inside of Scythe. I had no idea what to do, but I sure as shit had no intentions of going out into it."
"I imagine it would have been a frightening experience. It was a large storm, then? A hurricane?"
Duo's cheeks dusted with a blush of pink and he ducked his head, looking embarrassed.
"I wish I could say yes, but... no. It was just a storm that blew out overnight. But it left me with an impression and an appreciation for a planet's weather." After a long moment Duo sighed and straightened, turning to the desk and the array of blueprints scattered over its surface. "Anyway, back to business."
End
Karina Robertson 2012