Gundam Wing fanfiction

Gundam Wing fanfiction. My standard disclaimers apply.

Hallucinations

by Lady Aria (bukiminatenshi@mailcity.com)

"Where am I?"

Chang Wufei rose shakily to his feet and looked around him. The last thing he remembered was leaving the other four pilots and their Gundams in the waste satellite and wandering off on his own. Now, he found himself in an immaculately kept hallway lined by smooth columns of white marble. He gulped down the lump in his throat and started walking tentatively in the direction that he hoped would lead him outside, his soft, black shoes making not the slightest sound upon the pristine, white floor.

<This place is too quiet,> he thought to himself as he traversed the seemingly endless hall. He could not even see the ceiling. It was obscured by some kind of fog that had started to swirl about him when he’d started walking.

An ethereal finger of mist stroked his bare arm and he shivered as he felt gooseflesh rising on his skin, his dark blue tank top and loose, white cotton pants providing little defense against the cold. The mists were heavier now, and the silence deafening. Wufei’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the white vapors transform into hands that tried to grasp his legs -- the desperate movements all too well mimicking the actions of people begging for mercy.

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, his harsh breathing the only sound in the hallway. In his mind, he could hear the voices that should have accompanied the desperate gestures of the hands -- help me, don’t let me die, don’t kill me. These voices were punctuated by the occasional scream and the sounds of babes crying piteously amidst explosions and gunfire.

Just as he thought that the voices would drive him mad, he came upon a set of double doors. Without having any second thoughts, he pushed them open, desperate to get away. He blinked and used his arm to shield his eyes from the harsh sunlight that greeted him.

No mist swirled here. It was a lavish garden patio and everywhere he looked he could see roses of all shades in full bloom, their perfume heavy upon the warm air. At the very heart of the scene was a small table set for late afternoon tea for two. He walked over to the table and his eyebrows rose as he noted that the card on one place bore his name. He reached over the tabletop to snag the place card set upon the opposite set. One look at the name made his blood run cold as his suddenly numb fingers dropped the delicate piece of card.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Did you not know that it is impolite to toy with the guests’ place cards?"

Wufei’s heart thumped loudly in his ears as he slowly turned his head towards the figure that gracefully bent down to retrieve the card. The figure gave him a warm smile as he took the seat opposite the Chinese boy.

"Surely you aren’t that shocked to see me, Dragon," he said in an aristocratic voice. "After all, we only saw each other a few days ago."

"Treize," Wufei whispered shakily, resisting the horrible urge to bolt. "But you’re dead."

The older man plucked a red rose from the bouquet on the table and gave it a small sniff. "Yes, I am, and by your hand also, if my memory serves me correctly." He gestured to the empty place before him. "Please, do sit down."

He glanced suspiciously at his rival and slowly sank down into the soft velvet cushion. He watched as Treize expertly handled the demitasse tea set, not even making the slightest clinking sound as he poured them both tea. He glanced down at the delicate porcelain cup before him.

"Is something wrong?" Treize asked him as he nibbled on a biscuit.

"Everything is wrong," he replied as he looked up at him. "The hallway, this garden, even this," he said gesturing angrily at the table. "I should be fighting you, not having a tête-à-tête during afternoon tea."

"Ah, but how could you fight someone who’s already dead?" Treize countered coolly. "You might as well enjoy this little respite, Dragon, it’s not likely that anyone would be harming us here."

"Damn you," he said getting up and whipping out his sword at the same time.

In one stroke the blade was descending towards the man’s neck but Wufei stopped it an inch or so before he decapitated the man who was still enjoying his tea. Wufei happened to look directly into his eyes when Treize lifted his head to face him. The emotion that those two orbs showed stunned him.

There was nothing but sadness.

"Why ARE you here, Treize?" He asked him, wanting all of it to be over and done with. "Why have you come back to haunt me?"

The older man shook his head. "I didn’t come to haunt you, as you believe," he said. "The reason why I am here is to ask you -- no, to tell you to let me go."

"I don’t understand," Wufei said, confused.

"Let go of my memory, Chang Wufei," Treize said as he got up and walked over to him. "You are young and there is so much waiting for you out there. Live your life and let everything -- the war, the pain and the loss -- go. There is no reason for you to cling to my memory."

"You didn’t fight me fairly," Wufei countered as bitter tears stung his eyes. "You let me kill you with hardly any resistance on your part and you expect me to forget about it?! As for my memories, you cannot even imagine of how much this war has robbed me." Images of Meiran, his family and the L5 colony self-destructing flashed through his mind. "Unlike you, I can’t so easily let everything go."

"I am not asking you to forget the past," he replied as he shook his head. "I am asking you to stop DWELLING in the past." His voice took on a serious tone as he continued. "I know that you were fighting to rid the colonies of OZ rule and you succeeded. There is no more OZ. Do you still remember the events of the last few days before the Libra almost crashed into the Earth?"

"I do," the young man said as he replayed them through his mind. "But what does that have to do with this?"

"A lot," he turned his back on Wufei. "I seem to recall that the Romefeller Foundation agreed to put down all arms when Relena was Queen of the World. In respect, that would also mean that OZ would be no more since it is a direct division of the Foundation."

"All they ever did was say it," Wufei sneered. "But as I recall, Treize, you forced Relena out of her position and assumed command of the Romefeller Foundation to lay an assault on the colonies."

"Did you think I had a choice?!" He saw Wufei’s eyes widen at the uncharacteristic show of emotion. Treize himself couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten angry or frustrated. "My best friend, Zechs -- no, he was Milliard Peacecraft then -- decided to declare war upon the Earth where we both grew up. He wouldn’t be satisfied with just ruling it, he wanted to destroy it. I knew that Relena would be totally defenseless against her brother so I had to take her position, by force if necessary."

"And you decided to wage war against the colonies," Wufei said sarcastically.

"No," he replied. "I decided to bring the OZ forces to space to protect the Earth. Towards the end of the war, Dragon, there were no factions that were truly right or wrong. On the colony side, we had the former Zechs Merquise who wanted to destroy the place that had orchestrated the downfall of his family and caused the colonies so much pain and grief. On the Earth’s side, you have the OZ who only wanted to protect the world and its many other innocent inhabitants from Milliard’s judgment. And last, there was the side of the Gundam pilots -- your side. You and the others just wanted to see an end to the war -- wanting to neither destroy the Earth nor help OZ -- you who were hunted by the Earth military and then branded as traitors by the colonies."

"If you believed that there was no right nor wrong faction," Wufei said after the words of the man sunk in. "Why did you do it? Why did you let me kill you?"

"Because it was only when I was fighting you did I realize that I was the key," he said as he turned to face him. "I was the leader of OZ and I realized that the war was not going to stop while I was alive. It was just a matter to choosing how to die."

Wufei glanced at him in fury. "And you chose to die by my hand? Did you honestly think that I would be flattered by that revelation? I cannot think of a better way to insult me than by saying that! It was not an honorable way to die, it’s just like leading a lamb to slaughter!" His tone changed to one of bitterness as his anger played itself out. "I wanted to beat you in a fair fight. I wanted to beat you on my own terms...."

"But you did."

Wufei looked at him surprise. "I don’t know what you are talking about."

"In the game of life, Wufei," he said as the mists started to gather up about them. "Everything that I ever achieved could not compare to a life that has known how to truly feel and love."

"Treize!"

"Let me be, young Dragon," he said as he faded from view. "Move on."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Chang-san! Are you alright?!"

Wufei nearly fell from the cockpit door he was lying on as he jerked into wakefulness. He looked down at the girl standing on the ground. "I’m fine, Marimaia-sama!" He then returned to his work in reconfiguring his Gundam. <Treize is wrong,> he thought as he adjusted the controls for the booster output. <There is still a chance for us to settle our score. Even if it means that I should be on the side of the enemy, I would make sure that we be finally able to settle our differences.>

*********** The End ***********