Believe In

Gundam Wing Infinite Dance version one

Gandamu Uingu Mugen no Dansu ichiban

Part Forty-six;
*Believe In*

Paato Fuochiishikkusu;
*Biriivu in*

I believe again, that even if life and
   The Earth are totally burned out...
   Birth happens so often, but life is my meaning,
   I've discovered.
        I believe again tatoe inochi ga
           Daichi ni taore moetsukite mo
           Nando demo umare kawaru yo
           Watashi no imi wo mitsukeru (tame ni)

People always move towards change;
   Traveling below the distant tracks of time...
   The night sky secretly admires
   The twinkling stars which soar.
        Hito wa doko e kaeru no
           Haruka na toki wo tabi shita ato de
           Yozora wo sotto miage
           Matataku hoshi ni toui kakeru

Sad and impatient;
   Just now, to exist is to be flawed.
   However the truth can be painful,
   A soul, they say, is eternal.
        Kanashimi to hagayusa ga
           Tsuzure oru you na hibi no naka de
           Dakedo shinjiteitai
           Tamashii to iu eien wo

In my dreams, there are angels,
   Yet to be born to this spirit, in time.
   The shining future aims its wings,
   Flapping towards the sky.
        Tenshi ni umareru koto wo yume miteta
           Kono kokoro wa itsuka
           Kagayaku mirai wo mezashite habataku
           Hane wo tenireta

I believe again, if the world is to fall
   To the prayers of the end,
   To repeat waves of sad feelings,
   Then surely it wishes to say so.
        I believe again mo shi mo sekai ga
             Inori no hate ni kiesatte mo
             Kurikaesu omoi no nami wa
             Kitto kodou wo kizande miseru

What can you ask to make life
   Endure this dead feeling while
   Its heart can abide less and less,
   However its fate is foretold?
        Nani wo motome ikiru no
           Nakitai kimochi wo koraenagara
           Omoi doori ikanai
           Unmei wo urande ita kedo

The pain I feel is mine entirely.
   It appears that time is a body,
   To be washed away in a fatal heat...
   A lovely feeling.
        Itami no subete ga watashi no atashi to
           Omoeta sono toki ni
           Karada wo nagareru chishi no atsusa ga
           Itoshiku kanjita

[##]

Noin felt the Libra shift beneath her Taurus. It was moving, almost coming apart. Something was going on outside the little pocket containing herself, Zechs, and Hiiro. Something that mattered, and yet didn't. Her eyes never left the battle before them. If she looked away, she might miss it forever.

And never know the truth.

[##]

Hiiro had switched to focusing on the offensive, charging Zechs with the beam sabre, bringing it down on Epyon's crossed arms with swift blows and strokes. He twisted WingZero's body to widen his swings and empower his strokes. The wings within his mind's eye reappeared as he put even the thrusters into one hard blow. His eyes widened as he watched blood splatter across Epyon's gleaming burgundy skin, and he laughed. His blood raced, hot through his veins, and sweat stood out on his skin as he breathed heavily, and a slow sick smile spread wide across his face.

[##]

Rilina ran down the hallway after the White Fang. Rounding a corner, she came upon the bay that housed the escape modules. She halted to a stop and watched the men quickly scramble inside. Turning back, she watched for Sally, then looked up as she heard a distinct clanging above her. Hiiro...

[##]

Korosu! Korosu! Korosu!! Hiiro stopped short and blinked.

Hallucination? Now?

In the brilliance of space, amidst its shining stars and endless dance across infinity, a majestic mobile suit hung in the aftermath of a battle between the light and the darkness.

Hiiro moved back, the red stains in his vision slowly melting away.

Zechs noticed the change in tactics and didn't waste time taking advantage of them. Swinging his right arm forward, he unleashed the thermo whip and it wrapped around WingZero's neck. Jerking his arm back, he threw Hiiro to the surface of the Libra, and watched as the debris shot out into the depths of space.

[##]

The Maginaks landed next to Sandrock and HeavyArms Kai and reached for Peacemillion. Abdul got out of his cockpit and gently lowered to the crushed ship. He waved to the other suits as they landed behind the Maginak Corp.

" Howard says that as long as we don't do too much damage to the Peacemillion it should hold and allow us to take our suits inside without accidentally sucking anyone out into space. " Duo recounted the plan.

Abdul finished opening the docking bay and then bounded back to his Mobile Suit. " Let's go get Quatresama! "

" While you're at it, might as well make my job a little easier! " Howard added cheerfully to Duo.

" Yeah, " Duo muttered, " right. "

[##]

Hiiro cursed himself and lifted his head, searching for Zechs' position. But still-- still that dream invaded his consciousness.

As the light faded, the pilot was unable to see the peaceful light of the stars once again.

He got WingZero to it's feet and threw his shoulders back, staring upwards. It wasn't true, was it? He could still see the stars.

The moment he thought that those same stars disappeared, replaced by the shadow of Epyon and Zechs descended on him, rifle in one hand and sabre in the other. Hiiro had barely enough time to move before he landed, and the clash began anew on the surface of the fortress.

[##]

" Hold on Quatre, we're almost there... " Trowa assured his friend gently.

The other boy could only bob his head to show he heard. He had his hand pressed to his wound to stop the flow of blood, but it could only do so much, and crimson still seeped from beneath his fingers to crisscross his space suit down where it patterned the floor in their wake. He tightened his grip on Trowa urgently as he watched his vision go black for a brief moment.

Trowa stopped short at the sound of echoing... footsteps... ahead of them. He narrowed his eyes, watching the corner ahead as the shadow of a Mobile Suit split the square of light and eventually drove it back, followed by the suit itself, standing just barely within the corridor.

" Quatresama! " a voice echoed from the suit.

Quatre lifted his head at that voice and gazed uncomprehending. " Rasid? "

" Are you a friend of his? " Trowa demanded. Once he had received a satisfactory answer he helped lift Quatre to Rasid's cockpit, and rode the shoulder back to the Peacemillion. " He's been badly injured by the girl who was running the Mobile Dolls. She's still alive, but I don't think we'll meet anymore resistance from her. "

" We just received word of a belated launch of an escape module. That was probably her. "

" Good. " Trowa said, somewhat relieved. " I hope she lives to see a world without war. "

[##]

Hiiro was fighting a battle on two fronts. On the outside he was fighting Zechs, on the inside he was fighting himself. With every blow exchanged, every blow given, and every blow received, he was given a flash of that dream. That damnable dream he'd been seeing ever since that time in Old Canada. That one he couldn't get out of his head.

He wondered... if the other Gundam pilots had seen it... had Zechs?

His future destroyed by his own hands, he would never dance.

It couldn't be! It couldn't be that it was all decided already! They had to be able to change! He grit his teeth as one blow sent him skidding backwards, leaving two deep trenches in the metal battlefield. Hiiro opened his eyes as he came to a stop and watched Epyon come towards him at a run. He readied himself for the impact, raising his gun arm.

There had to be such a thing as peace!

[##]

" I'm sure by now you realize that I'm not leaving without proving to you that what you're trying to do is futile. " Quinze appeared abruptly on the screens of all the Mobile Suits inside the Libra and at the command base on Chikyuu. He continued with a sneer. " You can blow this up with me in it for all I care. But will you blow it up with all your comrades? How many charges did you set anyway? Enough to totally destroy Libra or just render it useless so you can scrap it later? "

" Probably the latter... " Hilde murmured.

Duo glared at the image of Howard, who winced apologetically. Once a scrap collector...

" Let's see how well your peace survives when this piece of scrap hits the Northern Hemisphere. " Then he was gone, and everyone felt Libra shudder once again as the realization dawned upon them.

Treize turned Talgeese II to face all of them. " Rasidsan, get those two to their Gundams. There's only one option left to us. "

" Stay here and destroy as much of Libra as we can before it reaches the atmosphere, " Duo finished for him. " Yo Howard, set off the charges. I don't see any around, so we should be safe. "

" Right. "

" Do so on my mark. Rasid, get going, you've got a minute until I give the word. "

" Roukai! "

" Who put you in charge? " Hilde demanded.

" No time to be petty Hildey. As the God of Death it's my job to keep us all alive. " Duo proclaimed cheerily. " Now let's have a big party and break stuff! "

[##]

His mind was clouded with the darkness of war...

Hiiro parryed the blow aimed at him and fired his rifle at close range, disabling Epyon's right shoulder. " Zechs! Zechs listen to me! Why are we fighting? "

" Do you see what the world is like Hiiro? " Zechs answered with a question of his own. " Even now, do you see? Nobody knows what to fight for anymore, but they fight just the same. Peace? " He scoffed scornfully. " What is peace? I see no one fighting for peace. "

and death...

Zechs attacked him adamantly with his remaining arm, switching effortlessly the sabre from his right to his left. " When it all comes down to it, Hiiro, there is only the ones like us! We are the only ones who can decide the future. But all we can do is fight! Does that make the future nothing but fighting? "

...a gaping black hole that engulfed Chikyuu in its entirety and swallowed all of Uchuu along with it.

" Does it?! "

[##]

" Rasid and Quatre are clear with their suits, HeavyArms is just about at your position: you're good to go, " Howard said, giving Duo the thumbs up sign.

" Yoush' Set off the charges, we got things covered in here. " Duo stated.

" See you later, my friend. You still owe me that drink. "

" No problem. " Duo shut off the link to Howard and warned, " Brace yourselves!! "

The explosions ripped throught Libra, tearing the fortress apart. But even as it was slowly destroyed from the inside, it still continued to lean dangerously towards the blue planet below it. As the outer hull was destroyed, WingZero and Epyon lifted off to continue away from the dying vessel. No one noticed when Noin's Taurus disappeared inside the wreckage.

Inside, Duo watched how things were going as he worked at destroying whatever he could. He could see it wasn't quite enough. Not even the group of them were going to be able to do it in time. They needed help; they needed help now.

[##]

" It's true, " Hiiro said, fighting against Zechs with all his might, while still fiercely fighting the dream that threatened to tell him his future, " it is us who decide the future: and it is us who know only how to fight. Only the soldiers can decide in the way of war or peace. "

War had consumed humanity.

Hiiro knocked Zechs' sabre away from him in one abrupt thrust, watching as the green of the thermo sabre was slowly lost in the darkness. As he dropped his arms to his side, his head dropped forward as well, and he quietly recounted the final words of his dreams. " Five stars fell to Earth in shame, never to return, never to know the peace of Outer Space again. "

Zechs' sharp intake of breath sounded over the com, and the battle came to a stark halt.

" I don't want that future Zechs. "

Zechs said nothing. He powered down the Zero System and waited, fighting the tears that stung his very soul. Lifting his head, he looked past Hiiro in agony, at the stars as they danced, uncaring...

... peaceful.

[##]

" I read you, Duo, " Hiiro said, turning from Epyon and cutting a path to the inside of what remained of Libra. " If we're going to destroy Libra before it hits Chikyuu than we need to take out the main reactor. Leave it to me. " He shut off the com and flew unerringly straight for his mentioned goal.

[##]

" Okay guys, Hiiro's going after the main reactor, so we better get ourselves out of here before he gets there, " Duo said, taking one last round with his scythe. " Let's go! "

" Not much more we can do here anyway, " Trowa remarked, following him towards the outer hull with HeavyArms, still emptying his ammunition into the structure as he went.

[##]

Rilina watched from the module she shared with Sally as the Maginak, Vai-eight, Aquarius, and the Gundams emerged from the steadily descending fortress. " Hiiro! Where's Hiiro and my brother? "

Sally placed a hand on the girl's shoulder in comfort. " I'm sure they and Noin are going to be just fine, " she assured, sounding more convincing than she felt.

[##]

" Wait. "

Hiiro lowered his rifle and looked to the side as Zechs landed next to him. " If you do this, you will die. Let me do it; you've got too much to live for. " He smiled sadly. " You have a future to build with my sister. " He moved Epyon forward towards the reactor. " Show me peace Hiiro, or I will return from the dead to fight you again. "

" Roukai. "

Hiiro turned and left.

[##]

Duo let out a loud whoop as Libra was swallowed in an immense orange explosion mere seconds after WingZero shot out of the side and careened towards them at top speed. The white suit stopped halfway between and stopped to watch, and Duo's face began to fall. " What's up with that one section?! "

" Shit! " Nara cursed. " It survived the explosion!! " Aquarius darted forward.

" Onna! " " Nara! " " Oi, nan da? "

" Never mind, Nara, I've got it. " Hiiro's deadpan voice stated. He flew straight for Earth, pushing the Gundam as far to the limits as it would go. Faster and faster, dipping into the atmosphere to come back up directly between it and the debris heading it's way. He bared his teeth as he quickly adjusted the engines and began to fly backwards before the debris. Aiming the double beam rifle, he set the computer to search for a lock and held his breath.

You know... his mind recalled out of nowhere, as the red targets fought for a lock through all the distortion, In Space, it's possible to see music. True enough, just past the red glow of the friction around WingZero and the debris, he could just barely make out the stars above him. If you stop, and watch, it's there, in the beautiful infinite dance of the stars. After what seemed like an inexhorable amount of time, while WingZero slowly faded away, piece by piece... Someday, I hope to be like that... The targets locked and turned yellow. I want my life to be beautiful...

WingZero fired, sending golden flame into the sky.

In the end...

... all Chikyuu got...

... was a spectacularily beautiful meteor shower.

I believe again...

[##]

Several weeks later, she pushed back from her desk and gazed out the window at the expansive gardens outside her balcony. Paperwork or the sunny day. Yeah, stupid question. She got up and pushed the doors open with both hands, rolling her shoulders and opening her uniform coat as she emerged into the sunlight.

" You take too many breaks, " he growled at her.

" Stuff it, " she said in good nature, " I wasn't meant for office work. " She laced her fingers and stretched, leaning against him where he sat on the railing awaiting his meeting. " Treize put me in the wrong line of work. "

" He put you where you belong. "

" Yare yare, let's not start this again. We'll just wait and see what job you get, Chang-san. "

" Hmmph. "

" Did you hear the name Une and Treize decided on? "

" No, " he admitted, letting some of his curiousity show through.

Nara smiled at the sky she'd finally touched and raised her hand to sheild her eyes from the sun. Her lips carefully formed the word, " Preventors. "

You believe again...

owari

[Written by Inseiko, 2001]
[Lyrics: "Believe" by Houko Kuwashima, Opening theme to Dancing Blade
Lyrics kindly translated by Xazy]

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