Title: There Will Be Us

Author: Karina

Rating: PG

Pairing: Milliardo + Jamie

Notes: Challenge 229. Baby Series 4 #145. Takes place following New Beginning.

Spoilers: None

Warnings: Extended Length

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: There Will Be Us

"Will there still be a Festival? Will there be a Solstice Ceremony?"

Beyond the sheltered palace, beyond the concrete and steel that protected them, he knew the country was being laid to waste by the ferocity of nature unbridled. How much of Sanc would survive the storm was unknown, but he estimated, from the old legends of the Ice Wyrm, that there would be a relatively clean slate to work from.

"In every ending there is a beginning. One must take the moment and act on it, shaping the direction one will walk in from the first step. For Sanc it will be forward, not back. I am quite determined of that. Sanc will have great need of an event to draw us together; to direct us forward. Some people might choose not to stay; they might leave Sanc and never return. Others of us... Well, there must be a beginning, and celebrating the Spring Solstice, the rebirth of life, new beginnings, seems rather relevant to me."

"Will... Will there be... After the storm will there be anything left?"

"There will be us."

That clearly was not what the boy was expecting and he smiled, reaching out to gently muss the boy's hair. He watched as Duo spoke gently to Jessica, the attention of a number of the children as they stirred going to the braided man. Duo was good with kids, there was no denying that.

"At the Solstice we will celebrate the return of life, offering up ourselves, celebrating the fact that we are alive. We will watch the sun rise in the dawning of the Solstice, feast and celebrate through the day, and watch the sun set on that special day. We will pledge ourselves to restoring all that was lost. It will be a particularly important Solstice Ceremony."

"It's nearly a month away."

"And we will need every one of those few days to prepare. We need to clear the roads and the pathways up to the Great Circle so that as many people as possible can make the pilgrimage. We will need to accommodate them whilst they are there; food, facilities for the necessities of life, shelter. There will be a lot to do. It will not simply be Sanc's infrastructure that needs rebuilding, but the people and their outlook that will need to be fortified and encouraged to grow."

"I've never been to the Great Circle."

Milliardo inclined his head slightly. "Too many people have not been there. It is an important part of the history of our country. It is the actual spiritual centre of Sanc. It's not a cathedral or a church, not a mosque or a synagogue. It pre dates all of them. Sometimes, if you rebuild something, you need to start from the beginning. It will be a symbol of unity, of rebuilding, of starting again. It does not matter what your race, creed or religion is; not after something as devastating as this storm. All that is important is that there be a unifying goal, and the offerings of ourselves, made before everyone who attends, will be psychologically significant. That's very important."

"I thought Spring was already here. The weather was nice. I... Would Jess and I have... died... if we were out there?"

"I would think so, yes." He was not a child, not this boy, and Milliardo did not believe in babying anyone who showed the maturity he had in surviving. "But you were not out there, on your own, facing what is very far from being a normal storm. Tests like this show us how strong we can be, Jamie. It shows us that we are alive and that is a very good thing to be."

End

Karina Robertson 2014