Title: In the Aftermath
Author: Karina
Rating: PG
Pairing: Duo + Milliardo
Notes: Challenge 239. Baby Series 4 #165. Takes place a few hours following Disaster in Motion
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: In the Aftermath
"The sad truth of the matter is that hardship is generally a beneficial experience... Though to be certain, one does not appreciate the hardship itself, nor the benefits initially."
Duo rolled his eyes, a smirk pulling his lips into a thin line. "Yeah, I guess it is, but only someone who has moved past the hardship and to some degree profited in the long term would agree. And appreciating it is always in hindsight. No one appreciates having the rug pulled out from under their feet and being dumped on the hard stony ground of misfortune."
Milliardo titled his head back, resting against the high back of the great chair. "We have had our share of such experiences. More than many, less than some. But inevitably, despite... or perhaps it should be inspite of?... the trial that tests us all, life inexorably goes on."
"And so does disaster. The cycle inevitably repeats."
Crystal blue eyes met blue violet and after a pregnant pause, both men laughed ruefully.
"Yeah." Duo mused. "Exactly."
Milliardo yawned magnificently, tiredly rubbing his eyes in the aftermath. "You know, I might actually get a bit of sleep tonight."
Duo stretched slowly, languidly. "Yeah. Me too."
Yet neither made a move to find their sleeping bags. The harsh crash of static and the faint broken whispers of distress calls were too vivid in their memories to permit them to simply lie down and sleep. The harsh reality was that there was too much to do, though much of what they could do at present was simply plan and speculate. It was not in the nature of either man to rest when there was work to be done.
The disasters of their individual pasts had led to the present catastrophe. They had not shied away from doing what they had thought needed to be done in the past. The hands of time, the indomitable unrelenting force, had turned upon the clock face of the universe and they who had been enemies in one lifetime, were now friends. Allies faced with catastrophe. Enemies, now allies, with the potential to be so much more on a purely personal level. Neither man was inclined to step back from the challenges life presented... and that was, in truth, all a natural disaster was.
A challenge to be faced and, in the aftermath, conquered.
End
Karina Robertson 2015