Part One;
*Awakening Warriors*

         Paato Uan;
         *Senshi o kizukaseru*
 
 

In the brilliance of space, amidst it's shining stars and endless dance across infinity, a white and blue mobile suit lifted it's rifle and spewed golden fire into the darkness. The light from the fire outshone the light of the stars, glinting off the mobile suit's skin of Gundanium. The light of war had outshone the peaceful light of the stars. One by one five of them fell to the Earth in shame.

Never to return.

Never to feel the peace of space again.
 

With a gasp Hiiro Yui sat up in bed and stared wide-eyed into the darkness. He normally didn't show much emotion, but something... something about the dream had shaken him up inside. He brought a hand up and pushed sweat-soaked chestnut bangs from his face. The moisture in them making them stand straight up.

Pushing back the covers, Hiiro got up out of his cot and pushed open the flap to his tent. He looked out at the night sky and took a deep breath.

Sometimes....

Sometimes he wondered what might have been...

  [##]

Somewhere else in the night, Duo Maxwell rolled over in his sleep and proceeded to suck on his thumb, while with the other hand clutching a plushie Deathscythe to his pajama-covered chest.

  [##]

Trowa Barton was not sleeping to begin with. He had a show to perform.

He stood at the side of the circus ring, peering through the curtains at the crowd of children, parents, and others who were merely there for a good time. Never mind that there was a war raging across the planet, the circus was in town. Trowa had the wonderful ability to hide in plain sight. He stayed out of the spotlight by stepping into it. He looked down at his half-mask and wryly considered the irony of it all. The feared Gundam pilot Trowa Barton was a clown.

" Trowa? " inquired a soft voice.

Trowa looked to the side, and the owner of the voice. Kathrine Bloom gave him one of her small 'daisuki' smiles and indicated the ring. " Ready? "

Trowa nodded.

She winked at him with those monochromatic violet eyes and raised a finger to make a point, " I'll try not to hit you this time! 'Try' being the key word, here! " She giggled at her own joke.

Trowa gave her the obligatory smile.

Kathrine wandered off to find her missing earring, saying she'd see him in the ring and that he really needed to lighten up. Trowa said nothing either way and resumed looking out into the audience. There were several Oz soldiers in the front rows at centre ring.

Hiding in plain sight.

  [##]

Duo let out a loud holler and began wielding the Deathscythe plushie like a weapon.

  [##]

The sunlight dappled the sand like water, shining bright, but not harsh, kinda like the only person awake to see the desert sunrise. He sat in the opening of his tent, letting the light spill across his pure features. His light blonde hair wavered slightly in the warming breeze, and he closed his blue-green eyes in happiness. He'd come to Chikyuu in strained circumstances, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it.

Quatre Rababa Winner turned his head slightly to gaze upon his beloved Sandrock. The Mobile Suit sat in much the same position it's pilot was in, taking it's place next to the lagoon in the oasis where Quatre and the Maginak had stopped for the night. Already the flamingos had taken their perches all across the surface of the Mobile Suit, giving it a dappled pink look.

[I've been maintaining that only Quatre's Gundam would attract wildlife like that. Do squirrels nest on Wing when Hiiro has it hidden by the school? Do songbirds roost for the night on Shenlon when Wufei is away bombing Victoria Base, or any of the other times 'Nataku' is left by itself? No, I don't think so.]

Quatre breathed deeply of the desert air and exhaled it in a sigh. When a presence was felt behind him, Quatre greeted amiably, " Ohayou Rasid! "

" Quatresama, " said the deep voiced Maginak leader, " you've been given your next mission. There's an Oz base to the north that you've been ordered to destroy. "

" I know, Rasid, " Quatre interrupted politely, getting to his feet and keeping his eyes out on Sandrock, " I read it a couple of hours ago when it first came in. I just wanted to enjoy the sunrise and let you and the rest of the Maginak sleep before heading out. "

Rasid smiled fondly at the boy. " You never fail to put others before you, Quatresama. "

Quatre turned and smiled at him, outshining the desert sun, " Of course, Rasid! You and the other Maginak are my friends! I'll go get Sandrock! " He turned and ran for his Mobile Suit.

" Everyone's your friend, " Rasid commented dryly, " sometimes that's the problem. "

  [##]

Duo's dream was rapidly becoming more and more violent.

  [##]

Chang Wufei had been up since before sunrise. He stood in the early morning dew practicing his katas. The wan sunlight glinted off his pristine white gi.

[for lack of a better term. I dunno, what DO you call those chinese clothes he wears? I know there must be a name for them...]

Wufei's black hair was slicked back into a tight ponytail, and his eyes glared into the distance with a dangerous gaze blacker than the darkest, starless night. Wufei was a bitter, bitter, yet disciplined, young man. No one knew why, except perhaps for a few people on his colony that may have known him in his past life. Those few who could remember the scholar who would not pilot a Mobile Suit.

Wufei paused as this thought crossed his mind. He looked up at his gleaming Gundam Mobile Suit: Shenlon. Nataku. He wistfully reflected on the past, then grew angry with himself and returned to his katas with new reverence.

There was no way to change the past. But that didn't mean that Wufei couldn't wish.

This train of thought having successfully put a damper on his mood, Wufei's silence was shattered by a nearby scream.

  [##]

Somewhere in the midst of Duo's battle, Deathscythe was thrown across the room.

  [##]

A continent west of Quatre's position, a young girl stole through the night to gaze out the window. Standing, shivering, in her nightgown, Rilina Dorlain, or rather, Peacecraft [gah, I am Noin ^^] gazed out at the stars and wished that the one she'd claimed as her own was there with her.

Hiiro Yui. There wasn't a day went by in which Rilina didn't think about him-- about fifteen million times. He occupied her mind whenever she wasn't thinking about the future. Even then he always figured into it. He and that Suit. That Mobile Suit that stood between she and Hiiro, that stood between her and true peace.

And yet, she couldn't hate Wing. Not when it was so dear to her dear Hiiro.

So, Hiiro, are you still going to kill me? she'd asked him once, during that party that had turned into such a massacre.

Yeah, had been his simple answer; and he'd meant it.

Maybe it was that thrill of danger that drew Rilina to him. Or maybe it was his ability to be proactive. He saw what he wanted and reached for it. Rilina was a pacifist. Sure, now she could call it the 'Peacecraft' way, but she'd always been that way. Always ready to let things slide.

Until her path had crossed with that of the most brazen, unpredictable, single-minded, psychotic boy in the whole of the universe.

Until she'd met Hiiro.

  [##]

Duo's pillow was soon to follow Deathscythe, along with a hollered, " TAKE THAT YOU~ " that trailed off into a sleepy murmuring of a few inarticulate nasty comments.

  [##]

The Cinq Kingdom was burning.

There was nothing young Milliardo Peacecraft could do about it. So he ran. He ran and ran and ran to his worst enemy. He went to an Oz school, joined the Oz Military Academy at Victoria, donned a mask and became Zechs Marquis, the Lightening Count. He found refuge from his terrible past by throwing himself into that which his family was supposed to despise, war. He became the perfect soldier, graduating top of his class, befriending Oz's representative Treize Kush Renada to the point where the soft-spoken man came to know 'Zechs' true identity despite the fact that Milliardo had all but disappeared with the Cinq Kingdom he had vowed to avenge, and become an expert at every aspect a Mobile Suit could hope to have.

Sad, but true, the pacifist boy had run too far, and now his hands were too stained with the blood of war to retake his kingdom.

This was what kept him awake at night, and perhaps what drew him to the only Oz soldier he knew that vocally despised war as much as he did.

" Ah, Zechs, " sighed Noin's voice through the telephone, " I don't know what to say. " She waited a moment for a response that never came. Even without a vidlink she could see him, slumped over in his seat, no lights on, his mask sitting next to the phone, gleaming even in the fading starlight. She wished she could be there, just to wrap her arms around those shoulders in comfort. " Sooner or later the war's going to have to end. People can't fight forever. "

" People Have been fighting forever, " Zechs pointed out, speaking for the first time since 'Hello, Lucretia.'

" It's only a matter of time before they realize the futility of their actions, however. People are fighting animals, but they have the potential for true peace, even if that peace needs to be found through battle, " Noin patiently outlined this line of thought.

" You sound like Treize. "

Noin debated over whether it was a good or a bad thing to be quoting Treize without knowing it. " Well, " she said finally, " he has a point. " Treize was better than Une, afterall.

  [##]

Having run out of things to throw, Duo began to thrash about.

  [##]

Treize turned off the comlink to Romafellor.

Leaning back, the puppetmaster gazed out into the serene courtyard and for a moment contemplated the irony of it all. A full moon gleamed across the surface of the pond, and on the metal skin of the Mobile Suits that stood at attention across the courtyard. Treize's face was graced with a small smile, one that was so trademark of him. His was a smile that was calm, and serene as the courtyard before him. Perhaps even more so.

Leaning back in his seat, his mind wandered, ambling through all his plans, his machinations, his manipulations. Call it what you will, Treize was working towards his view of a better end. If a few people had to die along the way, so be it. If a few million, that too, was of no consequence. He remembered every one. People and events lived on as long as they were remembered.

Treize cupped his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, breathing deeply of the scents wafting from the courtyard. Some people might have cracked under the stress placed upon Treize Kush Renada's shoulders, but not he. He reveled in it. It gave him a sense of security, all this power. Though it's not to say that said power gave him disillusions of himself or his position. Rather, it made him appreciate life all the more. He cherished the life of each and every one of the soldiers under him. He appreciated all they did for him, and knew that his place in the memories of future generations was assured.

Treize would be known. For what exactly he didn't know yet. The fact that he would live on was enough.

It was with that thought on his mind, that contented smile on his lips, and in that position, rocked back slightly in a chair overlooking the courtyard, that Treize fell back asleep.
 

Only then did she emerge from the shadows. Gently, she edged her beloved Treize forward and coaxed him to rest his head on crossed arms upon the table. Briefly she entertained the idea to kiss him-- just a peck-- on the cheek. But a faint blush rose to her cheeks at the very thought and she chickened out.

" Oyasumi nasai, Treizesama, " whispered Lady Une as she backed out of his presence. She gave the sky one last look before closing the door, just in time to see the sun break the horizon.

  [##]

Duo fell out of bed.

It was quite comical. He landed on his head, his long brown hair puddling around him, and his pajama shirt falling with him to cover his face but for startled blue-violet eyes.

" OW! " was all he could articulate in response to this rude awakening, and also all that he could think of when the rest of him finally followed his head's example and hit the hard floor with a loud, BANG!!

Duo lay crumpled on the ground in pain, as the sheet tumbled down after him and he blearily looked out the window at the rising sun.

The God of Death mumbled into his arm, " This isn't gonna be a very good day... " then spent twenty minutes trying to drag his bruised self to the shower.

To be continued...
 Tsuzuku...

**

[Yay! I'm finished the first part! All I have to ask about the next chapter is (a) does this story have a point? and (b) who screamed? Be here next time when hopefully we'll find a plot in all this and maybe Duo's premonition will be wrong... uh............. then again...]

Translation Notes for this Chapter

[Written by Inseiko, 2000]

Go to Part Two