Part Fifteen;
 *Mask Dropped by a Young Boy*

         Paato Fuifuchiin;
         *Kamen ga Shounen o Ochiru*
 

In the brilliance of space, amidst its shining stars and endless dance across infinity, a majestic mobile suit lifted its head in the aftermath of a battle between the light and the darkness. As the light faded, the pilot was unable to see the peaceful light of the stars once again. For his mind was clouded with the darkness of war: a gaping black hole that engulfed Chikyuu in its entirety and swallowed all of Uchuu along with it.

War had consumed humanity.

One by one, five stars fell in shame to the dead void that had once been Earth.

Never to know the peace of outer space again.
 

Hiiro staggered out of the room Quatre had provided for him. Hugging the wall for support, he made his way down the hallway to a junction. To the right was a set of double doors and a table. A door to outside, perhaps? Not what he was looking for.

To the left there was a longer hallway, and an open door within spilled artificial light into the hall. From within that room, Hiiro could hear clacking keyboards, the low indistinct murmur of voices, and the hum of high-power computers. Not what he was looking for either. But it had more possibility than the former.
 

                 [##]
 

I want to let you know
    In my words alone
    That I can see light shining
    On the other side of sorrow
         Ore dake no kotoba de
            Kimi ni tsutaetai
            Kanashimi no mukou ni
            Kagayaki ga mieru
 

                 [##]
 

" Hiiro.... what happened to Hiiro? " Rilina asked, looking pleadingly at him, the boy who also piloted a Gundam.

Duo stood with his back against the wall and his arms crossed.  How he managed to accomplish this with one arm in a sling, Rilina didn't know. " I don't know, " he admitted, " Hiiro doesn't seem like the type to just collapse like that. Maybe there's more wrong than he's willing to admit. " He looked up and let out his breath noisily, " That'd be just like him. "

" What about you? "

" Eh? "

Rilina eyed him quizzically.  It made Duo slightly uncomfortable. She spoke slowly, softly, " Who are you? "

" Duo. Duo Maxwell.  Haven't we gone through this before? "

" No, I mean, who are you? "

" Hmm... " Duo mulled over this, " ... just another person fighting for the colonies. "

" I see... How do you know Hiiro? "

" Eh? " He gave her a bright grin, " You were there for that one Neesan! My greeting was a bullet in the arm. Heh, " he moved his good arm to behind his head and stared across the room with a fond smile, " I thought he was a bad guy. Turns out he's not that bad afterall... "
 

                 [##]
 

Everyone has one or two
    Scars on their heart
         Dare datte hitotsu ya futatsu
            Kizuato o kokoro ni kakaete iru
 

                 [##]
 

Trowa gripped the gun in his hands. He looked back at the soldier he'd gotten it from. The man was crumpled on the floor, his arm bent unnaturally. It must have broken when Trowa slammed him into the wall. Blood was seeping out from under the soldier's head, but it was only from the bloodied nose. The soldier would inevitably live.

Trowa checked the ammunition left in the gun. It was only enough for two shots, but that would be enough. He tightened his grip on the gun and felt a sharp pain. Drawing his hand away, he found, to his surprise, blood. There was a small cut in his palm, it must have happened when he broke the mask... but he didn't remember it.

Distantly, some small obscure part of his brain made the connection that the cut followed one of the natural folds in his skin-- his 'lifeline' as palm readers at the circus called it. Interesting, but a moot point.

Trowa stole silently down the hallway, careful to avoid the security cameras as much as possible. Coming to a corner, he heard voices around it and paused.

" What are you doing? " one voice demanded. " That pilot could be anywhere! What if he finds his Gundam? He could destroy us all! " Distraught. Fear. The first voice knew its fate very well and feared it so. How very like Oz.

A second voice contradicted, " Coward. He's just a boy! He'll never get to Unit 03, we've made sure of that. "

And then, the object of Trowa's goals. Hitori Yuu's voice: " If anything, Trowa Barton is not just a boy. He's a soldier, and a very dangerous one at that. "

How very correct.

Trowa stepped around the corner, took aim, and fired both rounds directly at Lieutenant Colonel Hitori Yuu.
 

                 [##]
 

I don't believe anymore, I don't love you anymore--
    Don't close up your heart with those words
    And run away
         Mou shinjinai mou aisanai
            Sonna kotoba de kokoro tozashite
            Nigeru na yo
 

                 [##]
 

Quatre closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. So far his gathering of the Gundam pilots wasn't going so well. The other two pilots weren't in very good condition. Hiiro Yui had collapsed and hadn't woken since, Duo Maxwell had a dislocated shoulder, and, despite it being healed in short time, it still handicapped the Deathscythe pilot. Quatre smiled faintly, pardon, it would still handicap Shinigami. The God of Death with a handicap. The very thought was interesting in itself.

Quatre wasn't completely well himself either. Bandages still patched his pale skin and he was stiff to move. He sighed.

And then there were the other two pilots. Trowa was still a prisoner of Oz, and Quatre worried incessantly over whether he was alright or not. The rational part of his brain kept reminding him that Trowa could handle himself, and was prepared to die if need be. But Quatre's heart still fretted over his friend's safety.

Quatre leaned forward and gazed at the computer screen, setting his chin on his folded hands.

The ever-elusive fifth pilot had yet to reappear in reports. Quatre wondered where he was, what he was doing, what he was like... what his name was?

It was a terrible thing to have a name to put to four out of five. Now they were Hiiro, Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Zero-Five. He hoped the other pilot was nice.
 

                 [##]
 

Come on, let's start again, one more time.
    Let's find the rest of the dream we can't forget.
    A smile looks really good on you, you know
         Saa mou ichido saa hajimeyou
            Wasurerarenai yume no tsuzuki o mitsukeyou
            Hora kimi ni wa egao ga sugoku niau yo
 

                 [##]
 

Wufei awoke with a start and a whispered " Iie. "

Disorientation had him forgetting where he was and what he was doing for a moment, then it all settled back down. He was in a tent provided by Sally Po and her soldiers (of all people) it was raining, and he was without Nataku. Oh, and that girl was with him still. What was her name? Nara Sorou. That was it.

Wufei looked down at her, only after recalling her existence did he remember that they were not only sharing the tent but the blanket as well. She was asleep still, with her head on her shoulder and her arm around his waist. Her hair had dried, and tumbled over his shoulder and into her face.

Wufei scowled moreso at himself than at her. Why had he mentioned his marriage? Had she realized where that analogy had come from? Did she know his past? His weakness?

Nara's arm on his waist tightened and she pulled him closer. Wufei looked thoroughly affronted (if not a little scared). Then, in her sleep, Nara murmured, " Sono tsukue o tabete mo ii desu ka? "

Wufei relaxed a bit, not bothering to try and decipher what she'd said. Despite himself, he was finding it... kinda.... nice to have her around. He'd never say it to her face, but she was intelligent, and strong, and brave... for an onna. Wufei smirked at his own addendum. It was a pity that she'd likely die in this war.

Then again, she'd probably say the same about him, and never to his face. A comforting thought in a way.

[note: I was pulling words out of my head when I put together what Nara said in her sleep. Know what I came up with? "Sono tsukue o tabete mo ii desu ka?" translates roughly to "Is it all right if I eat that table?" Yes, I am weird, deal with it.]
 

                 [##]
 

The word youth
    Makes me blush a little,
    But today only comes once.
    I don't want to waste it
         Seishun tte kotoba wa
            Sukoshi tereru kedo
            Ichido dake no kyou o
            Muda ni shitakunai
 

                 [##]
 

Rilina had sat in silence a long time after her short exchange with Duo. So many things had happened to her since she'd found Hiiro on the beach. She'd grown so much. She knew her father would be proud. She hoped her birth father, the head of the Peacecraft family, was equally proud. She wondered what the name of her birth father had been? She'd have to ask Milliardo  or Noin sometime.

Hiiro.

Of course her thoughts returned to him. If not for him, she wouldn't be here today, she wouldn't be so brave. She might not even be so calm. Sometimes...

Sometimes she wondered what might have been...

Standing, she headed for the door.

Duo blinked at her. " Eh? Where're you going? "

She stopped at the door, and looked back at him with eyes that reminded Duo frighteningly of Hiiro's for a moment. " I'm going to see Hiiro. "

" Okay, " Duo shrugged the creepy feeling off, " Let me know if he's still a vegetable. "

Rilina left, and Duo muttered, " Those two deserve each other... yeesh... "
 

                 [##]
 

In your eyes, as they look back,
    I see your own future sparkling
         Furimuita hitomi no naka ni
            Kimi dake no mirai ga kagayaiteru
 

                 [##]
 

His hands were drenched in the blood of war. He couldn't see them in his mind as anything but. Stains multiplied by stains, overlapping, never ending, they gripped the controls of Treize's elegant Mobile Suit as if by a will of their own. Zechs was no longer Milliardo, he'd never be Milliardo again. That name had become his new mask. When he wanted to act like a diplomat,
and work to help Rilina preserve the ideals of the Cinq Kingdom, he would don a mask in reverse. For he was a soldier, through and through.

Apologies ran though his head as he piloted the Epyon into the night. Apologies to his father, to Rilina, to Noin, to Hiiro... to Treize... to Chikyuu and all of humanity. He was a failed soldier, and that in itself made him the Perfect Soldier.

For in the mind of Zechs Marquis, formerly Milliardo Peacecraft, he had nothing left to lose. A very dangerous frame of mind.

Why had Treize given him this Mobile Suit? Why? That pilot, whom Zechs both loathed and loved in his respect for him; Hiiro Yui should have the Epyon.

Zechs descended and landed the Epyon atop a hill that looked down on the lights of a distant city. Opening the cockpit, he stepped out and gazed at that cluster of lights. Jewels in the night, in the darkness, they were the only sign that civilization had spread across the Earth. He looked to the stars, where the lights were more natural, and the colonies indiscernible amongst the stars. It was... ironic... in a way.

A slight breeze blew past, tossing Zechs' long hair over his shoulder, and twisting a few strands to the sky. Zechs reached up and lifted the helmet from his head. His long bangs tumbled over his eyes to his chin, creating a curtain that could act as a mask in itself. He fingered the long crack that had happened in the crash. Without looking back, he could see the helmet that would connect him to the Epyon's computer. So strange, this feeling that rose within him at the thought of it. This suit of Treize's would destroy him, he knew it. He accepted it.

Stepping closer to the edge, he dropped his mask and whispered, " Arigatou... Treize. "
 

                 [##]
 

I'm out of time, I can't catch up--
    Don't slump your shoulders with those words
    And run away
         Mou maniawanai mou oitsukanai
            Sonna kotoba de kata o subomete
            Nigeru na yo
 

                 [##]
 

Treize smiled as he covered Dorothy with a blanket and began to gather the chess pieces together. Such a confused child. It would take more than Treize to show her the true beauty of war. He sat and watched her sleep with his chin on his hands. She didn't know who to claim as her 'side'. She was nothing like her grandfather, Duke Dermail. Dermail was... well, he knew exactly what he wanted, Treize just wasn't sure if he knew the proper path to get there. Or if he knew the path at all. Dorothy was precariously close to the same mindset. But she was impressionable.

Perhaps the Gundams and Zechs would be able to teach her the proper form of war. Yes, Treize amended his thoughts, his smile widening ever so slightly, they would. He was sure of it.

And Treize Kush Renada was rarely wrong.
 

                 [##]

Come on, one more time, as many times as it takes.
    Mud-stained and soaked with the rain,
         Saa mou ichido saa nando demo
            Doro ni mamirete ame ni utarete

Take hold of it!
    Come on, the sun will shine in the tomorrow of your dreams
         Tsukamero
            Hora yume mita ashita wa kitto hareru yo

Even fragments of burning-out stars
    Flash bright, streaking across the sky
         Moetsukiru hoshi no kakera mo
            Kagayaki o hanatte sora o kakeru

I don't believe anymore, I don't love you anymore--
    Don't throw yourself away with those words
    And run away
         Mou shinjinai mou aisanai
            Sonna kotoba de jibun o sutete
            Nigeru na yo

Come on, let's start again, one more time.
    Let's find the rest of the dream we can't forget.
    A smile always looks good on you, you know
         Saa mou ichido saa hajimeyou
            Wasurerarenai yume no tsuzuki o mitsukeyou
            Hora kimi ni wa egao ga itsumo niau yo
 

                 [##]
 

Music. Words. Once again they were a powerful force to him. Moreso than the dreams. For music was the best medium, the best way to convey feeling. Words alone could not communicate human feeling and human emotions. But when with music... instantly it was a powerful force. More powerful than dreams. More powerful than emotions themselves. More powerful then the Gundams. More powerful than war.

For it was the music of humans, the music of their hearts and minds, and the desire for peace, which fueled the beautiful infinite dance...
 

                 [##]
 

One day your eyes will shine,
    Having found your dream at last
         Kimi no hitomi ga yume o mitsukete
            Itsuka kagayaki
 

 **
 

[^^ Please forgive me, I'm toying a bit with the style here. I thought I would try dispersing song lyrics as opposed to scenes. {hey, the dispersed scenes were an experiment too!} Well! Did Trowa finally kill Hitori Yuu? Are Wufei and Nara going to beat Rilina to a lemon scene? Boy, won't she be angry! {BUT THIS IS A NON LEMON FIC!!! OH-HOHOHOHOHOH! ahem.} In any case, what is going to happen to our beloved pilots? Find out next in Gundam Wing Mugen no Dansu part 16!]
 

 [Written by Inseiko, 2000]
         [Song: " In My Words Alone " by Hikaru Midorikawa
         Lyrics found at http://www.gundamwing.org]
 
 

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