You're Not Alone | By : Hideki LaShae Category: Gundam Wing/AC > General Views: 1392 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Disclaimer: All Gundam Wing characters and
references belong to their respective owners. The song You’re Not Alone,
which appears on the Escaflowne: The Movie soundtrack courtesy of
Bandai, belongs to the artists and company that recorded it. It was used in
this story with the best of intentions. Story elements © Hideki LaShae. No
money was gained in the writing of this story.
Dedicated to Nikki who has a short but
important role in this story and an even more important role in my life.
The Road to Peace
Part One – When All Else Fails
The year is After Colony 219.
Thomas Yuy and Grace Barton have wed. After a phone call
from her former husband, Solo Solong, Cecilia tried to kill Heero, but her love
for him stayed her hand. Instead of killing Heero, Cecilia confessed her
feelings to him.
Cecilia spoke to Solo again, and he threatened to destroy
all the colonies if she didn’t supply the anti-pacifists with the Sixth Gundam.
Cecilia called a meeting with the five ex-Gundam pilots. She revealed herself
to be Cecilia J, the adopted daughter of Doctor J, and she informed the
ex-Gundam pilots that there had in fact been seven Gundams, not just the
five they had piloted.
Together with Herangelia, who has secretly been training
to replace Cecilia as the pilot of the seventh Gundam, they went to New York to
retrieve the Gundam Salvation.
Cecilia transferred the pilot controls to Herangelia and
entered the internal chamber to become the fuse for her Gundam’s self-destruct
system.
* * *
Herangelia Yuy sits in the pilot’s seat taking the Gundam
Salvation out of its hidden bunker. She wears pale blue Capri jeans and a tight
white tank top with white sneakers. She has a really large black leather jacket
draped over her shoulders. Around her head she’s tied a golden bandanna that
draws attention to her short, unruly blond hair. Her blue eyes reflect the
light from the screens in front of her. “Should we fly Gundam over or should we
requisition a cargo plane?”
“We don’t want people to see a Gundam,” says Heero Yuy.
He looks at Herangelia with Prussian blue eyes filled with pride. His dark
brown hair is disheveled and unruly. He wears faded blue jeans with a black
tank top, a dark blue denim jacket, and white sneakers.
Quatre Raberba Winner sits in his seat nervously looking
at the section of the floor that had opened to drop Cecilia into an internal
chamber. His neat blond hair falls towards his blue eyes as he stares at the
floor. He wears his brown dress pants and a pale pink dress shirt. He also
wears a black belt, purple vest, and dark brown dress shoes.
“Heero’s right. We’ll need to secure a transport,” says
Trowa Barton tugging on the collar of his black mock-turtleneck. He wears pale
jeans and white sneakers. His brown hair is styled forward to hide one of his
green eyes.
Chang Wufei wears his dark gray tank top and white
Chinese style pants. He wears his black belt, Chinese slippers, and his dark
gray wristbands. His black hair is slicked back and tied at the base of his
neck. He looks towards Quatre with his slanted black eyes. “Don’t worry,
Quatre. We’ll get Cecilia out.”
“I can’t believe the Gundam ate her,” says Duo Maxwell.
His blue eyes also stare at the floor, and the grin he almost always wears is
gone from his face. His chestnut brown braid falls to his waist. He wears his
loose fitting black pants and a black shirt. He wears a red turtleneck beneath
the black shirt. He also wears a pair of dark hiking boots. “The Gundam ate
her!”
“Get a grip, Duo! She knew what she was doing!” exclaims
Herangelia looking over her shoulder at Duo, “Cecilia had always planned
to die with her Gundam! She can’t be hurt in the internal chamber unless we try
to force her out of it. She’s safe there… unconscious right now but safe. She
won’t revive for awhile, so we can’t even find a safe way to get her out.”
“Then there’s only one thing we can do,” says Quatre,
“Let’s get a transport and go to the meeting point!”
Herangelia nods, and the Gundam Salvation lifts itself
off the ground and flies away.
* * *
The large cargo plane lands in the field in front of
Gundam Salvation. Trowa and Duo wave from the cockpit.
Herangelia slides down Salvation’s shoulder to the
cabin’s open door. She climbs inside and closes the door.
Wufei and Heero open the doors of the cargo plane and
climb out of it.
“It’s about time you four got back!” exclaims Quatre, “We
were having problems keeping Salvation hidden from the planes!” He pulls the
camouflage net away from the Gundam.
“Sorry about that, Little One,” says Wufei.
“We had a hell of a time securing this transport!”
exclaims Heero walking away from the plane with Wufei.
Trowa and Duo run down the ramp.
“What happened?” asks Quatre.
“Security at the base was hell,” says Duo.
“Come on, Relena! We’ll guide you in!” exclaims
Trowa.
Gundam Salvation stands up and walks towards the back of
the airplane.
“Duo and Trowa were going to just steal the cargo plane,”
explains Wufei walking up to Quatre and resting his arm over the shorter man’s
shoulders, “but they couldn’t get in quietly.”
“I had to put up enough money to finance a small army!”
exclaims Heero angrily, “For one lousy plane they didn’t even need! Damn
bastards!”
“Alright, Relena!” exclaims Duo, “You’re doing great!
Since we couldn’t get a truck we’ll have to use a winch and the hydraulics
system to load Salvation!”
Herangelia’s voice comes through Gundam Salvation’s
speaker system, <<But I can do this, Duo! I can get her in! All I need to
do is have Salvation crawl into the plane!>>
“No! Relena! You’re doing this our way!” exclaims
Trowa, “Just lie down, and we’ll pull you in!”
The Gundam Salvation slowly sits down on the ground close
to the open doors of the cargo plane, and it lies down.
Trowa quickly pulls out the line for a winch and hooks it
to Gundam Salvation.
“Hopefully we can get a truck when we need to get
Salvation out,” says Quatre leaning into Wufei.
“I have a feeling that getting Salvation out will be a
lot easier than getting her in,” says Heero watching Duo and Trowa work.
“Let’s go help. This is going to take all of us!”
exclaims Wufei.
Heero, Quatre, and Wufei run over to Trowa and Duo.
All five of the Gundam pilots, working together, get
Gundam Salvation onto the door to the cargo plane, and they start the rollers
that are imbedded in the door.
The winch pulls Gundam Salvation in as the rollers turn,
helping to ease the large burden in.
Once the Gundam is inside, the winch and the rollers both
stop.
Herangelia climbs out of Gundam Salvation’s cockpit as
the five Gundam pilots climb into the cargo plane.
Quatre closes the cargo bay door.
“Did you get the coordinates out of Salvation,
Herangelia?” asks Heero.
“Yes, Dad!” exclaims Herangelia pulling a small piece of
paper from her pants pocket.
“Until we meet up with Spirit, I’ll still call you my
angel, Herangelia,” says Heero pulling her into a quick embrace, “After that
I’ll try to call you Relena, but I make no promises!”
“I understand, Dad,” says Herangelia.
Duo moves up to the pilot’s seat and sits down. He starts
the engine.
Heero looks longingly at Gundam Salvation.
Quatre sees the look in Heero’s Prussian blue eyes.
“Herangelia, why don’t you help Trowa secure Salvation?”
Wufei moves up to the co-pilot’s seat. “We can take off
in a few minutes, Duo.”
“I’m on it, Quatre!” exclaims Herangelia hurrying to help
Trowa.
“You want her out now,” says Quatre. He sets his hand on
Heero’s shoulder.
“I never wanted her to go in!” says Heero, “I don’t want
her to be in a giant machine. I want to hold her, Quatre!”
Quatre smiles.
“She’s going to try to kill herself,” whispers Heero,
“She wants to die…”
“No! Her love for you will stop her from trying to kill
herself! Heero, her love for you will save her!” exclaims Quatre, “I know it
will.”
Heero looks at Gundam Salvation and smiles. He nods to
Quatre. “You’re right, Quatre.”
Herangelia and Trowa finish tying Gundam Salvation down.
“Buckle up, everyone!” exclaims Trowa, “Then we can take
off!”
Herangelia, Trowa, Quatre, and Heero take the seats
behind Duo and Wufei. They harness themselves in.
“Let’s go, Duo!” exclaims Wufei looking back at everyone.
“On it!” exclaims Duo releasing the brakes.
The cargo plane starts rolling along in the field, and it
picks up speed.
Duo adjusts the throttle and pulls up on the stick in
front of him.
The cargo plane lifts itself off the ground and starts to
gain altitude.
Herangelia looks back at Gundam Salvation and sighs. She
pulls the black leather jacket tightly around herself and closes her eyes for a
quick nap.
* * *
Duo and Wufei land the cargo plane at the designated
rendezvous point.
Everyone gets out of the plane and looks around for any
signs of Spirit or Gundam Destruction.
A bullet hits the ground in front of Quatre.
“We’re under attack!” exclaims Quatre grabbing Herangelia
and shoving her into the plane again.
“That was a warning! Identify yourselves!” yells a woman
from within the trees that line the dirt runway.
“We are six Gundam pilots!” yells Duo, “Are you Spirit
Demon, pilot Zero Six?”
A man walks out from the cover of the trees. He smiles as
he approaches the five men and the cargo plane. His pale red hair falls loosely
to his shoulders, and his green eyes look over the rims of his sunglasses.
The man wears a blood red T-shirt with black leather
pants and a black leather jacket. He wears tall black hiking boots. “Welcome to
Russia. I am Spirit Demon.”
“I’m Heero Yuy, pilot Zero One,” says Heero offering his
hand.
Spirit Demon shakes Heero’s hand.
“I am Quatre Raberba Winner,” says Quatre shaking
Spirit’s hand next, “pilot Zero Four.”
Trowa just nods to Spirit. “I’m Trowa Barton, pilot Zero
Three.”
Wufei shakes hands with Spirit. “I’m Chang Wufei, pilot
Zero Five.”
“And I’m Duo Maxwell, pilot Zero Two!” exclaims Duo
shaking Spirit’s hand.
“Where’s Cecilia?” asks Spirit.
“Locked inside Salvation,” says Herangelia climbing out
of the plane again, “I’m Relena Darlian, pilot Zero Seven.”
“Call in your friend, Spirit,” says Trowa staring at the
trees.
Spirit waves his hand in the air.
“Now, Relena… what do you mean she’s locked inside?” asks
Spirit.
A woman with waist-length blond hair comes running up.
Her brown eyes look around suspiciously as she slings her rifle over her
shoulder. She wears a black tank top with tight black shorts. Her black leather
boots extend all the way up to her knees and she has a black denim jacket tied
about her waist.
“Don’t be rude, honey,” says Spirit holding out his hand,
“This is my wife!”
The woman takes Spirit’s hand and nods her head. “My name
is Lonely Alone… Why isn’t Cecilia here? I was expecting to see her.”
“She is here. She’s in Salvation, and we can’t get her
out,” says Duo.
“Salvation has a self destruct chamber that the pilot
enters!” exclaims Herangelia, “The pilot dies when Salvation’s destroyed!”
“Oh my God! Cecilia!” exclaims Lonely.
“She can’t be serious,” says Spirit, “Relena! She can’t
mean to die!”
“How could you let her go in there?” shouts Lonely.
“Hey, we knew nothing of that Gundam before this
week!” yells Wufei, “We had no idea it had that chamber!”
“Stop arguing! It won’t get us anywhere!” exclaims Quatre
stepping in between Wufei and Lonely.
Lonely looks down at the ground.
“Lonely, this is Relena Darlian, Heero Yuy, Chang Wufei,
Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, and Quatre Raberba Winner,” says Spirit, “Cecilia
introduced me to them when she called.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” says Lonely taking a
deep breath, “From what I understand, Cecilia is very happy with you, Gundam
Wing.”
“She is,” says Heero.
Lonely smiles. “Now… what do we have to do to get her
out?”
“We don’t know,” says Herangelia, “She never covered that
in my training. She never thought I’d need to get her out!” She looks at her
wristwatch. “She should be awake now. We can talk to her!”
“Not yet,” says Heero, “I know Cecilia. She doesn’t want
us to worry about her. She wants us to protect the colonies! She’s safe where
she is. Let’s fix up the anti-pacifists first! Then we’ll free her!”
“Heero’s right,” says Duo, “That’s what she would want!”
“That’s funny. I thought I was her best friend,”
says Lonely, “But you seem to know her as well as I do. So… let’s get down to
work!”
“We have Destruction hidden in the trees,” says Spirit
nodding his head, “Where is the meeting with Solo? Is it the house where he
lived with Cecilia?”
“How did you know about that?” asks Trowa suspiciously.
He tilts his head back and glares at Spirit.
“We were the witnesses at their wedding,” says Lonely,
“We’re the only family that Cecilia J and Solo Solong have ever known!”
“What about Doctor J?” asks Duo, “Cecilia called him…”
“Dad’s different. He was a father to Cecilia… and to me,”
says Lonely, “But that was a long time ago!”
“Things change. Cecilia’s a part of our family now!”
exclaims Duo, “And we care for her too!”
“Does Cecilia trust you?” asks Lonely.
“With all her heart,” says Heero.
“Then I trust you. I hope you have a plan!”
exclaims Lonely. She leans against the side of the cargo plane.
“”You know this place where we’re heading? What’s it
like?” asks Quatre.
Herangelia leans her back against the place next to
Lonely, and she glares at the older woman through the corner of her eyes.
Spirit kneels on the ground and starts drawing in the
dirt. “Their house is here. It’s rather small and hidden by these trees here.
There’s a cliff behind the house here, hundred foot drop! There’s a clearing
here. It’s the closest place to land a plane or Gundam!”
“Not if we land right here!” exclaims Wufei pointing at
the house, “Land Destruction in the clearing and Salvation on top of their
little base.”
“That won’t give us much room to maneuver,” says Spirit.
“We could use the beam cannon on Salvation. Clear away
the trees,” says Herangelia.
“Maybe we should send a scout team in first!” exclaims
Quatre, “Then we would know how many people we’re up against and what we’re
capable of!”
“Exactly what I was thinking, Quatre,” says Trowa, “Duo
and I could go in.”
“And Lonely could give you some help. Cover fire if you
need it,” says Spirit.
Lonely nods her head.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” says Trowa.
“I agree. We need to know who Solo brought with him,”
says Wufei.
“How far away is the house?” asks Trowa, “What would be
the best way to approach it?”
“You can take my motorcycle,” says Spirit, “and Lonely
can show you the way.” He nods to Lonely.
Lonely pushes herself away from the place and breaks into
a dead run. Her long blond hair flies behind her as she heads away.
“One motorcycle? For three people?” asks Wufei, “How will
that work?”
“We’ll make it work,” says Trowa.
Duo nods.
After a moment, Lonely rides up on a black motorcycle and
skids to a halt in front of Trowa. She smiles at him. “I assume you know how to
ride!”
“I could beat you in a race, Lonely!” exclaims Trowa with
a smile.
“I accept your challenge, Trowa Barton!” exclaims Lonely
jumping off the motorcycle. She pulls a set of unique roller blades from the
back of the motorcycle, and she fits the roller blades over her boots. “Let’s
race!”
“Not without me!” exclaims Duo as Trowa swings his leg
over the motorcycle. He jumps on behind Trowa. “Ready?”
“Get set, Lonely,” says Trowa.
“I’d get back, guys,” says Herangelia.
Everyone steps back away from the three racers.
“Go!” exclaims Duo.
The motorcycle zooms away as Lonely clicks her heels
together.
Two small propulsion jets on the outside of the wheel’s
frame fire to life, and Lonely races away at high speed.
Heero laughs after seeing the unique roller blades.
Spirit sighs. “That’s Lonely for you!”
“Now Spirit. What do you think of our mission?” asks
Wufei.
“If Solo has really become an anti-pacifist, I don’t see
how we can win!” exclaims Spirit relaxing on the ground, “The only reason he
wasn’t chosen as the pilot of Destruction was because he had previous contact
with one of the Gundam pilots. Doctor J thought his contact with Duo would
prevent him from destroying Zero Two. That’s why he chose me. I had nothing to
gain… or lose.”
“But now you could lose Lonely,” says Herangelia.
Spirit nods.
“I think she’ll be fine,” says Quatre, “I feel like she
has a strong will to survive. She won’t be killed easily. She’ll fight… to the
end.”
“We all will… for the colonies,” says Herangelia, “For
peace… for vengeance!”
“Vengeance is too expensive, Relena,” says Wufei, “You
can’t afford it.”
“You give up a part of yourself when you go looking for
vengeance, Relena. We don’t want you to do that. We don’t want you to become a
soldier or a murderer,” says Quatre, “Solo isn’t worth that, and your mother
wouldn’t want to be avenged like that.”
* * *
Lonely races beside the motorcycle that carries Trowa and
Duo. She raises her hand to signal that they need to stop as she rakes her
roller blades against each other. The propulsion of the roller blades cuts out,
and she starts to slow down.
Trowa slows the motorcycle to a stop. “How close are we?”
“About a mile. We can’t risk using the bike any further,”
says Lonely, “We’ll hide it here and go in on foot.”
“Right!” exclaims Duo climbing off the motorcycle, “What
about your roller blades? Where did you get something like that?”
“Spirit and I own a toy company,” says Lonely as she
takes her roller blades off, “Spirit Toys. We have a team of toy designers
working for us. Well, one of them takes our ideas and makes workable
prototypes. This is one of them.”
“Oh so we might see rocket powered roller blades on the
market by Christmas!” exclaims Duo.
“Does that one designer ever have anything go to market?”
asks Trowa. He climbs off the motorcycle and wheels it into the cover of the
bushes.
Lonely shakes her head and tosses her roller blades into
the bushes beside the motorcycle.
“Why not?” asks Duo.
“His projects are for Spirit and me. Things that could be
toys but could also be weapons. He’s the one person we trust,” says Lonely, “he
did have one toy go out. It was a failure. A top with blades out the sides and
a special launcher. We were having trouble getting it to be disguised as a
regular top with the blades ejecting when used.”
“Oh, so Beyblades were intended as a weapon?” asks Trowa
chuckling.
Lonely laughs.
“Did you get it to work as a weapon?” asks Trowa.
“Yes! Actually we did. We have a Beyblade weapon,” says
Lonely.
Duo laughs. “Alright, come on! We have a mission! Let’s
start walking!”
Lonely nods and leads the way forward into the foliage.
Duo and Trowa follow quietly behind Lonely.
“We should get off the ground,” whispers Lonely, “They
could have traps set up here in the forest.”
“And keep a lookout for cameras,” whispers Duo as Trowa
starts to climb up a tall tree.
Lonely scales the tree after Trowa. She walks along a
sturdy branch with her arms outstretched.
Duo climbs up the tree.
“Will you be okay with this, Duo?” asks Trowa quietly.
Duo nods. “I’ll manage, Tro. Let’s do this.”
Lonely pulls herself onto a thick branch from another
tree.
Trowa pulls Duo around him.
Duo starts along the branch following Lonely’s path.
Trowa runs along the branch and jumps. He grabs a hold of
a small branch and swings himself up into another tree. “Wait. You were right,
Lonely. There’s a camera in that tree.”
Lonely spots the camera. She nods. “I think Duo and I
could go above it just like you are, Trowa.”
Duo climbs up higher in the tree, and he moves onto the
branch with Trowa.
Lonely scales the tree. “I’d better take the lead. I hope
you both are acrobats!”
Lonely runs along the branch and jumps into another tree.
She leaps over to another branch.
Duo looks down at the ground several yards below. He
swallows hard. “If I make it through this, remind me to add acrobatics to my
daily exercise routine.”
“You go ahead of me, Duo. If you fall, I’ll catch,” says
Trowa smiling.
“Thanks, Buddy,” says Duo smiling. He runs along the
branch as carefully as he can and jumps into the next tree.
Trowa quickly follows behind Duo.
The three people leap through the treetops, relying on the
sturdy branches and their own uncanny balance. They come to a stop in a tree as
Lonely points something out.
Up ahead is the clearing with the small wooden house.
Lonely points to herself them to a very large tree that
will give her cover. She points at the gun on her back.
Trowa nods. He holds up his hand with his watch and taps
his wristwatch with his other hand holding out all five fingers. Then he taps
the watch with three outstretched fingers.
Lonely nods and jumps off towards the tree where she will
provide the team with her sniper skills if it proves necessary.
Duo silently points to himself and then towards a line of
trees indicating the direction he wants to go in.
Trowa nods then points at himself. Then he lightly taps
Duo’s chest.
Duo smiles and nods. He knows what Trowa said even
without the words. He knows that Trowa said, ‘I’m going wherever you’re going.’
Trowa smiles at Duo.
Duo starts toward the next tree and jumps into it, but he
loses his balance and starts to fall.
Trowa hurls himself out of the tree at a downward angle.
He impacts Duo with an outstretched arm and holds him tightly as they both go
in a downward angle.
They hear the whoosh of a bullet and the cracking of
glass as they crash into a tree.
Trowa grabs a hold of a branch and uses it to anchor
himself. He grunts as their downward momentum is abruptly stopped.
Duo reaches out for the trunk of the tree and pulls
himself to it.
Trowa swings and drops himself to a large branch.
Duo climbs down to join Trowa on the branch. He leans
back against the trunk and takes a deep breath.
“I told you I would catch you,” whispers Trowa.
“Thanks, Buddy,” whispers Duo, “Do you think Lonely got
the camera before it saw us?”
“I do,” whispers Trowa nodding, “Let’s move on. We have less
than fifteen minutes to find out all we need to know.”
Duo nods and takes another deep breath to steady himself.
Then he moves away from the trunk and starts towards a tree that’s closer to
the house.
Trowa follows behind Duo and they move closer.
Duo and Trowa stop behind the cover of several smaller
tree branches and look towards the house.
A woman stands by the window looking out at two men with
machine guns.
A third man sits at an outdoor table putting together a
rocket launcher.
The door opens, and a man comes out. “There’s a camera
out!”
Trowa’s eyes widen as he looks through the doorway into
the house. He sees a large cache of weapons inside with an evil looking man.
“Solo’s inside,” whispers Duo.
“One of you come with me! We have to fix that camera!”
exclaims the man walking off with one of the two machine-gun goons.
Trowa and Duo continue to look around. They see the doors
to a cellar open and close as more than a dozen men go in and out.
Then Trowa taps his watch.
Duo and Trowa slip away and hurry back to the tree where
they last saw Lonely.
Lonely waits patiently on the tree branch. She has her
gun slung over her shoulder again. She starts to lead them back. She stops in a
large tree.
Duo and Trowa join Lonely.
“You were late leaving. Did you see something?” asks
Lonely.
“Nothing that a Gundam couldn’t handle,” says Trowa.
“Well, that’s good. I saw Solo through my scope,” says
Lonely, “I could barely recognize him. He looks so different.”
Duo nods.
“You knew him long before I did,” says Lonely, “He must
have really changed a lot since you met him. We should head out quickly to
report to the others.”
Duo leads the way for a bit before Lonely jumps ahead of
him.
Duo, Trowa, and Lonely hurry forward.
* * *
Quatre sits down and leans against the cargo plane. “It’s
taking awhile for Trowa and Duo to come back. I hope they haven’t gotten into
trouble.”
“I wouldn’t worry about them,” says Wufei pacing back and
forth, “They can handle themselves.”
“Yes. I know that,” says Quatre, “They could always take
care of themselves. They never needed me to worry about them. I don’t know why
I do.”
“You care too much!” exclaims Herangelia as she kneels
beside the drawing of the house and its terrain, “That’s why you worry,
Quatre.”
“Quatre does care a lot, Herangelia. He loves everyone,”
says Wufei, “But why do you sound like caring for people should be a bad
thing?”
“You care for them and they leave you… So why bother
yourself with caring?” replies Herangelia.
“What!” exclaim Quatre and Wufei in shock.
“Trowa loved Ania. She died. Grace loved Trowa. He left
her. Noin loved Milliardo. He died. Zechs loved Noin and Sally. They died. Dad
loved Mom. She died. All their pain could have been avoided if only they
wouldn’t have cared about the people who died!” exclaims Herangelia standing up
and moving away from the dirt drawing.
“You’re partially right, Relena,” says Wufei
walking to Herangelia and grabbing her arms so she is forced to look at him,
“They wouldn’t have suffered the pain from losing the one they loved, but they
wouldn’t have experienced the joy that they received in their brief time with
the ones they loved! I would gladly go back in time to love and lose
Nataku again. I wouldn’t change a thing about what happened between us!”
“Is it really that great to lose someone?” asks
Herangelia looking into Wufei’s black eyes with confusion.
“No. It’s not great to lose someone you love. It’s the
worst kind of pain anyone can ever have,” says Wufei, “But the joy and the love
that you can feel before that pain is worth the pain. Caring for someone
makes life worth living!”
Herangelia looks to Quatre.
Quatre stands up and moves towards them. “I’m glad that I
had Iria and Ania… even though they died. Their smiles were one of the greatest
treasures in my life.”
“I don’t… care. I don’t want to care,” says Herangelia
falling into Wufei’s arms, “I don’t want to lose…”
“What’s this all about, Relena?” asks Quatre stroking
Herangelia’s unruly short blond hair, “Who do you think you’ll lose if you care
for them?”
“Everyone!” exclaims Herangelia.
Wufei pulls Quatre into his arms.
Quatre holds onto Herangelia and Wufei. “You don’t have
to worry about that, Princess.”
“Everyone dies sooner of later,” says Wufei, “It’s not
for us to worry about when someone will die.”
“It’s up to us to love them as much as we can before they
go,” says Quatre, “Our love will make their life worthwhile.”
“Love gives meaning to life and death?” asks Herangelia
holding onto them with all her might.
“Yes. It really is better to have loved and lost than to
never have loved at all… Even though it does hurt like hell to lose the one you
love,” says Wufei.
“I don’t want to lose anyone else that I love, but I
can’t help but love them!” Herangelia bursts into tears.
“It’s okay,” says Quatre as the young girl cries, “It’s
okay.”
“Cry all you want,” whispers Wufei.
* * *
Spirit and Heero walk towards the hiding place of Gundam
Destruction.
“Why didn’t you ever destroy it? Did you think you might
have to go after Salvation?” asks Heero.
“I hoped I wouldn’t. I knew I would. I doubt I can defeat
Salvation,” says Spirit.
“What?”
“Gundam Salvation was initially designed to be able to
eliminate Gundam Destruction and then lead the way to a bright new pacifist future,”
says Spirit with a sigh, “Salvation is different from Destruction and the other
Gundams. Just blasting the self-destruct system from the outside can’t destroy
it. I don’t know how to destroy it.”
“There’s one thing I don’t understand. When did Doctor J
have the time to create the last two Gundams much less train four potential
pilots?” asks Heero, “There was a war going on!”
“He got the parts in secret and got a fair plan design to
create them. Then he trained us. We were on a very tight time schedule. He
would disappear at times and we would train alone. Then he chose Cecilia and
me. He gave us our new codenames, the parts, and the plans. He trained us a
little more then he disappeared again… something about going to the other four
creators,” says Spirit stopping abruptly.
“That must have been about when the five creators were
captured and almost killed,” says Heero.
“Yeah. I think it was,” says Spirit looking directly into
Heero’s Prussian blue eyes, “Cecilia and I built our own Gundams using the
designs Doctor J had given us. We both made a few modifications. You said there
was an internal chamber on Salvation?”
“Yes. Cecilia entered it. She’s now in the core of the
self-destruct system,” says Heero.
“She must have added that,” says Spirit. He continues to
lead Heero towards the Gundam Destruction.
“How much farther?” asks Heero.
“Just here.”
Heero looks ahead and sees a Gundam sitting in a relaxing
position beneath a large canopy tarp tied in the trees. He smiles. “It looks
like Wing Zero.”
“Now it does! I had a problem with the beam cannon. I had
to get rid of it. It looked kind of like Heavyarms with the cannon,” says
Spirit. He smiles.
Heero nods.
“Let’s get it back to your plane.” Spirit climbs up into
the cockpit of Gundam Destruction.
The Gundam stands up through the canopy. Then it bends
down to grab Heero.
Heero hangs on tightly as the Gundam Destruction flies up
and away.
Gundam Destruction flies over to the plane and lands
beside it. It lowers Heero to the ground before it sits down.
“The others haven’t returned yet,” says Heero half
questioningly.
“No, Heero. We haven’t seen them yet,” says Wufei.
The cockpit of Gundam Destruction opens, and Spirit
climbs out. “Where did Relena go?”
“She’s inside,” says Quatre leaning against the plane.
“Is everything okay?” asks Heero.
Quatre nods. “Yes. She just misses Relena Yuy.”
Herangelia walks out of the cargo plane.
“Relena Yuy? The Sanc Queen?” asks Spirit.
“She was my mother,” says Herangelia, “Solo Solong killed
her right after I was born!”
“The anti-pacifists have ruined our lives for the last
time,” says Heero. He clenches his fists angrily.
Wufei looks off in the direction their friends had gone
in. “Hey! They’re back! There’s Trowa, Duo, and Lonely!”
“I hope they have good news!” exclaims Herangelia.
The motorcycle carrying Trowa and Duo skids to a stop.
Lonely races up and stops her propelled roller blades.
They all stare at each other for a few moments.
“Are we going to be able to get Salvation out of the
plane without wrecking it?” asks Herangelia.
“Not that likely,” says Heero, “Considering how hard it
was to get it in.”
Herangelia nods and pulls a cell phone from her jacket
pocket. She quickly dials a number.
Gundam Salvation stands up breaking apart the cargo plane
as it does.
Herangelia puts the cell phone back into her pocket.
“Everyone in!”
Quatre climbs up first and opens the hatch for the
cockpit. He slips inside.
Herangelia easily scales the side of the Gundam
Salvation.
“How can more than one person fit inside?” asks Lonely.
“Just follow,” says Trowa climbing up and going in after
Herangelia.
Everyone climbs up into the cockpit of Gundam Salvation.
“I knew she made changes! I never knew she made this!”
exclaims Spirit in complete shock.
<<Identify,>> comes the computerized voice.
“Heero Yuy, pilot Zero One, Wing Gundam.”
“Duo Maxwell, pilot Zero Two, Gundam Deathscythe.”
“Trowa Barton, pilot Zero Three, Gundam Heavyarms.”
“Quatre Raberba Winner, pilot Zero Four, Gundam
Sandrock.”
“Chang Wufei, pilot Zero Five, Shenlong Gundam.”
“Spirit Demon, pilot Zero Six, Gundam Destruction,” says
Spirit mimicking the others.
Herangelia mouths out her instructions to Lonely.
“Lonely Alone, neo-pilot Zero Six, Gundam Destruction,
replacement pilot,” says Lonely.
“Relena Darlian, pilot Zero Seven, Gundam Salvation,”
says Herangelia.
<<Identities confirmed,>> says the computer,
<<What is your command?>>
“What are we all doing in here, Relena?” asks Duo.
Herangelia sits down in the pilot’s seat and starts to
work on the screens in front of her.
“Um… Salvation? What is Relena doing?” asks Quatre taking
his seat.
<<Activating the internal camera,>> says the
computer.
“Well, we might as well sit,” says Heero taking his seat.
“We’ll have to make this quick, Relena. We have a world
to save!” exclaims Wufei.
Spirit sits down and pulls Lonely into his lap.
Wufei, Duo, and Trowa sit down as a screen flares to
life.
A woman appears on the screen. Her waist-length brown
braid is made up only of the hair from the center back of her head, and it
dangles across her shoulder. The rest of her hair has been cut to match her
cheekbones. Her eyelids are closed over her gray eyes. Her name is Cecilia J.
Cecilia’s arms are stretched out and bolted to the wall
in iron shackles. She wears black denim, hip-hugger Capri pants that can barely
be seed on the screen. The red vest she wears is laced up tightly in the front
to conform to her body, and the vest holds her breasts firmly in place.
“Cecilia!” exclaims Heero seeing her on the screen.
Cecilia opens her eyes groggily. “Where am I?”
<<The Self-Destruct Chamber,>> says the
computer.
“How long?” asks Cecilia.
“Too long,” says Heero.
“Hello, Cecilia,” says Lonely.
Cecilia bats her eyes at the blond haired woman. “Lonely
Alone…”
“Right on the first guess!” exclaims Lonely, “So tell me,
Woman! How do we get you out of there?”
“I’m not coming out! Have you stopped the
anti-pacifists?” asks Cecilia.
“Not yet,” says Quatre.
“They have about two dozen men plus a large arsenal of
weapons!” exclaims Duo, “And they’re in your old house!”
“With one woman,” adds Trowa.
“Was she missing a hand?” asks Cecilia. She looks at
Trowa desperately.
“We couldn’t see,” says Trowa.
Cecilia nods her head. “It’s Rebecca. My daughter.”
“Not anymore!” exclaims Herangelia, “You only have one
daughter! Now tell me how to get you out of the Self-Destruct Chamber! That is
an order from Herangelia Hilde Yuy, Princess of the Sanc Kingdom!”
“Yes, my Princess,” says Cecilia with a courtly nod of
her head, “There are three ways to get me out of here. The first way would kill
me for sure. The second way would probably cause me to bleed to death.”
“And the third way?” asks Spirit.
“Is improbable,” says Cecilia, “If I was still up there
with you, I’d be electrocuted for being an invader! Lonely isn’t being touched
because she must have identified herself as a replacement pilot! I can’t do
that! I’m a former pilot! To return to the cockpit would be my death! You can
try to get me out after you defeat Solo!”
“Why can’t we just force that door open and pull you out
now?” asks Wufei.
“That was the method where I’d bleed to death, Wufei!”
exclaims Cecilia, “The chute I’m in would raise, tearing me apart!”
“Bad idea then,” says Wufei.
“Cecilia. The third way may be improbable, but would you
live through it?” asks Quatre with worried eyes.
Cecilia smiles warmly. “Of course, Quatre.”
“So how do we get you out?” asks Duo.
“You’ll need to find both the key and the keyhole to
Salvation,” says Cecilia.
Herangelia holds up the locket. “I have the key to
Salvation!”
“Relena. The locket isn’t the key I’m talking about. You
are the key to Salvation. You just need the keyhole. If you can solve that
riddle, you can set me free,” explains Cecilia, “Look inside your heart,
Relena. You are the Angel of Salvation! I am the Goddess of Despair!”
“Cecilia? What do I do with the key?” asks Herangelia.
“Okay… It will activate the weapons systems, primary and
secondary,” says Cecilia, “Say engage weapon protocol to find the
keyhole. You’ll see a flashing green light on the screen ahead. You will need
to manually engage the primary weapon. Do that by typing in the symbol sequence
I taught you! Do you remember?”
“I do,” says Herangelia with a nod.
“Camera off and lock,” says Cecilia.
The screen goes blank.
“Did we just learn anything?” asks Spirit.
“We learned a lot! I’ll check it out later! Do you think
we can use our original plan?” asks Herangelia.
“They don’t appear to have too many big weapons. We
should be able to continue as planned if the armor on the Gundams is like what
we had,” says Duo.
“All right,” says Spirit, “Lonely will stay here, and
I’ll pilot Destruction. Let’s do this!”
Lonely stands up. “Be careful, Spirit!”
Spirit kisses Lonely’s lips quickly. He laughs. “I always
am!”
“Keep in radio contact,” says Heero.
Spirit stands and heads out of the cockpit.
Lonely sits down, and everyone straps themselves into
their harnesses.
“Relena, are you sure you can handle this?” asks Quatre.
Herangelia nods. “I’m the only one who can.”
“I have a question for you, Relena. Why did you give
Cecilia a direct order from the Sanc Princess?” asks Lonely.
“Relena Darlian is the girl’s code name,” explains Wufei,
“It is not her true identity.”
“Relena is actually Herangelia Yuy,” says Trowa, “The
Princess.”
“My daughter,” says Heero. As an afterthought, he adds,
“Cecilia always obeyed Relena’s commands out of respect for her and loyalty to
the Sanc crown. She normally called my wife by the title ‘My Queen.’ She would
never refuse a direct order from a member of the royal family.”
Lonely nods her head as the Gundam Salvation starts to
move.
* * *
Gundam Destruction lands in the clearing closest to the
house, and Spirit’s voice booms out over the PA system. “Solo Solong! I’m here!
You wanted the Gundam! Come and take it!”
Gundam Destruction stands waiting.
“Orphan? Is that you I hear?” asks a man walking
out of the trees. He aims a small beam cannon towards the cockpit of Gundam
Destruction. His shoulder-length bleached hair falls over his ebony eyes. He
wears black jeans and a black T-shirt beneath a black leather jacket. “It’s
been a long time, Orphan! Come out where I can see you!”
The cockpit doors open, and Spirit stands up to looks
down on the man. “It has been a long time, Solo! I’m called Spirit Demon now!”
“So you were given the last Gundam! I didn’t think
that wimp Lonely would be able to handle a real Gundam!” exclaims Solo glaring
angrily at Spirit, “That Gundam should have been mine!”
“Why? So you could start another war with it? Solo! We
are war orphans! Our parents would still be here if there hadn’t been a war!”
screams Spirit.
“There will always be a war!” screams Solo, “Now
hand over the Gundam to me!”
“This is Gundam Destruction, Solo. If you think a measly
beam cannon can hurt my armor, you’re dead wrong!” exclaims Spirit diving back
inside.
The cockpit door closes abruptly.
“Spirit! You bastard, Orphan!” screams Solo. He fires the
beam cannon towards the cockpit.
The beam hits a barrier that surround Gundam Destruction,
and it bounces off, being reflected straight towards the forest.
The trees splinter and crack before they are blasted
completely away.
The sound of machine-gun fire rises through the trees.
Solo turns and runs back towards the house.
* * *
Gundam Salvation flies up beside the cliff and looms over
the small house.
“There’s a Gundam!” exclaims a man.
“No way! Boss just went to meet the Gundam!” screams
another man.
“Everyone evacuate the building. I will destroy it in ten
seconds!” exclaims Herangelia over the PA system.
Within the cockpit of the Gundam Salvation, Herangelia
strains against the controls trying to maintain her hovering.
“Give them more than ten seconds,” says Quatre.
Herangelia nods. “Voice command recognition. Relena
Darlian.”
<<Voice analysis confirmed,>> says the
computer.
“Engage weapon protocol!” exclaims Herangelia. She pulls
the locket off as a panel slides forward to reveal a heart-shaped indentation.
She fits the locket into the hole and presses it down. She sees the flashing
green light in front of her. She starts typing on her console. “Ankh, triangle,
bird, dog-man…”
“That’s Anubis,” says Wufei.
“Anubis. Dog-man. Same thing!” exclaims Herangelia,
“Circle, alpha, heart, gamma, beta, Anubis, sun, moon, life.”
“Hey! That last symbol’s a picture of us!” exclaims Duo
as the symbol appears on the screen, “Boy, was I gorgeous when I was fifteen!”
“Not particularly,” jokes Trowa.
Herangelia laughs as the green flashing light becomes a
solid red light.
<<Weapons fully operational,>> says the
computer.
“That wasn’t nice, Trowa!” exclaims Duo.
“But it was funny!” exclaims Lonely. She laughs
uncontrollably.
“Look at how many people are coming out of that house and
the cellar!” exclaims Quatre, “That looks like the entire anti-pacifist
regime!”
“I think it may be, Little One!” exclaims Wufei.
“There’s a lot more than we saw!” exclaims Trowa with
wide eyes.
“Bastards!” exclaims Heero, “Salvation, begin count-down
timer! Set for ten seconds! Broadcast the time over the PA system!”
<<Acknowledged. Ten… nine… eight…>> comes the
computerized voice.
A woman comes out of the house and stands there calmly.
Her chin length hair is cropped in uneven layers. Her roots are a deep brown, but
the rest of her hair is a bleached blond. Her cold gray eyes stare at Gundam
Salvation. Her right arm ends in a stump instead of a hand. “I am Rebecca
Solong! Relinquish that Gundam to our command!”
“Well, I’ll be,” says Lonely, “She has Cecilia’s eyes.
Gray… not a common color.”
<<Six… five… four,>> says the computer.
“You will never get this Gundam!” exclaims Heero.
“Guys, you might want to activate the secondary and
defensive weapons systems,” says Herangelia, “Use the control trays beside
you.”
<<Three… two…>>
Everyone pulls up the tray and secures it in front of
them. They set their right hands on a palm reader.
<<One…>>
“Get out of the way, Solong!” yells Quatre.
<<Zero,>> says the computer.
“Fire main cannon!” exclaims Herangelia.
Gundam Salvation shakes slightly as the right arm raises
itself and holds out its palm.
The beam shoots out from the palm of Gundam Salvation’s
metallic hand. It flies straight into the house.
“Open fire!” screams Rebecca as she jumps for cover.
Everyone aims their machine gun at Gundam Salvation and
opens fire.
“Activating main defensive shield,” says Wufei pushing
the shield icon on his console.
“Activating perimeter weaponry,” says Trowa pushing the
lightning bolt icon on his console.
The bullets hit the electro-magnetic shield and
disintegrate.
An electromagnetic wave flares out from the shield.
People’s bodies writhe and jolt as the wave passes
through them.
“What the hell kind of modifications did Cecilia make to
this?” asks Heero.
Gundam Salvation flies forward and lands on the other
side of the rubble that was the house.
“Let’s try out my toy! I think it’s a gun!” exclaims Duo
pushing the gun icon on his console.
“I don’t know if we want to do that!” exclaims Wufei
looking out at all the people still standing.
“Too late for second thoughts,” says Duo as the chest
cavity of Gundam Salvation opens up.
<<Salvation! Solo’s on his way back! Clear a space
for me!>> calls Spirit through the radio.
“We read you, Destruction!” exclaims Trowa.
A barrage of missiles shoots forth from the opened chest
cavity of the Gundam Salvation.
The anti-pacifists dive in all directions.
The missiles tear into the trees and explode.
Tree shards fly everywhere.
Solo runs out of the forest from a different direction.
“Another Gundam! Who the hell is piloting that?”
“Well, Relena. Should we tell him?” asks Lonely.
“This is Gundam Salvation, piloted by the Angel of
Salvation herself, Relena Darlian! Formerly piloted by the Goddess of Despair,
Cecilia J!” screams Herangelia into the PA system, “I have to repay you for my
death!”
“No!” screams Solo, “She was chosen above ME!”
Gundam Destruction lands in the newly made clearing.
Spirit’s voice comes over the PA system, “That’s right, Solo! Orphan and
Woman were selected to be Gundam pilots!”
“Destroy the Gundams!” screams Solo, “Destroy the
Gundams!” He raises the beam cannon and aims it at Gundam Salvation. He fires
the beam.
“Let’s try my defense,” says Quatre pushing the shield
icon on his console.
Herangelia giggles as a rainbow of colored lights start
flashing on the screen. “Dad! Activate your weapon!”
Gundam Salvation flies up into the air quickly to dodge
the beam from the beam cannon.
“Where the hell did they go?” asks Solo screaming at the
top of his lungs.
<<How did Cecilia make her Gundam
invisible?>> asks Spirit over the radio.
“We’re invisible?” asks Lonely.
<<I see you on radar, but not with my eyes,>>
says Spirit.
“So that’s my defensive shield,” says Quatre,
“Invisibility.”
“Activating Beam Saber,” says Heero pushing the sword
icon on his console.
The beam saber slides out of the left forearm into the
left hand.
The rainbow of colors in front of the screen dissipates.
Gundam Salvation dives down and strikes the beam cannon
with the searing hot beam saber.
Solo jumps away as the beam cannon explodes. “Becky! Do
something!”
“Where is Becky… uh, Rebecca Solong?” asks Duo looking.
“There she is!” exclaims Trowa, “Destruction! You have a
parasite climbing your left leg!”
Gundam Destruction grabs its beam saber from its left
forearm and turns it on. “I’ll sacrifice the leg if I have to,” says Spirit
from inside, “Surrender now.”
Rebecca slides down Gundam Destruction’s leg. She moves
away and raises her arms in defeat.
“Tell your men to surrender!” exclaims Wufei.
“Never!” screams Solo insanely.
“Now, let’s see what fireworks do,” says Lonely pressing
an icon on her console that looks like fireworks exploding.
<<Self destruct system initiated. Self destruct in
five minutes,>> says the computer.
“Ah! How do I turn it off!” exclaims Lonely pushing the
icon repeatedly.
<<Manual override engaged. Self destruct countdown
terminated,>> says the computer.
Cecilia appears on the screen. “Lonely, you idiot! You’re
just lucky I’m down here to turn it off manually! Don’t push that button
again!”
Lonely hands her head.
“We’ll have you out of there soon, Cecilia!” exclaims
Heero smiling at her, “They’re about ready to surrender!”
Cecilia mouths out the words ‘I love you’ before the
screen goes blank again.
“Surrender before I use my E.M. pulse, Solo!”
exclaims Spirit, “It has ten times the power of Salvation’s!”
“And Salvation’s wiped out a third of your men!” exclaims
Duo.
“I’ll never surrender!” screams Solo as all of his men
drop their weapons and raise their hands, “You fools! Don’t surrender!”
“Sorry, Dad!” exclaims Rebecca, “It’s over. We
lost!”
“It’s never over!” screams Solo trying to run into the
trees.
“I can’t kill him… even though I want to,” says
Herangelia, “Activate preservation mode.”
<<Preservation mode activated,>> says the
computer.
“Being a pacifist is better than killing,” says Trowa.
“Your mother would be proud of that decision,” says
Quatre.
“Destruction, can you get Solo? We’ll guard these
prisoners and call for an escort to jail,” says Wufei.
Before Gundam Destruction can move, two beams shoot forth
from the eyes of Gundam Salvation.
Solo screams as the beams hit him.
“Relena!” exclaims Quatre with wide eyes.
Herangelia shakes her head.
“Relena?” asks Lonely, “Does the preservation mode
transfer weapon control to the Self-Destruct Chamber?”
Herangelia shakes her head. “It just enables the weapons
to be controlled from there.”
“You didn’t kill him?” asks Trowa.
Herangelia shakes her head again.
Wufei pulls out his cell phone and dials a number. He
holds it up to his head. “Detective Nikki Moulzolf, anti-pacifist
investigations please.”
“Her career has certainly advanced since we first met,”
says Heero.
“Well hopefully now we’re putting her out of a job,” says
Duo.
“Yes, Nikki. It’s Chang Wufei,” says Wufei, “I have
captured several anti-pacifists… of course not on my own. Can you send some of
your people to take them off our hands?” He gives her the coordinates of the
clearing and says good-bye. He tucks the phone away again.
“Herangelia, Spirit,” says Heero, “Stay in the Gundams.
The rest of us will go down and tie up the prisoners!”
Herangelia types on a console, and a panel opens up on
the side.
Everyone except for Herangelia un-harnesses themselves
and grabs some rope from the open panel.
“Relena. You said you had some ideas about Cecilia’s
riddle. Maybe you could work on solving it,” says Quatre.
Herangelia smiles. “Salvation. Open file ‘Goddess of
Despair’.”
<<Voice file opening,>> says the computer.
“Riddles and songs,” says Trowa with a sigh. He shakes
his head. “Let’s go.”
“We’ll get Cecilia out just as soon as the anti-pacifists
are taken away,” says Duo with a nod to Herangelia.
Lonely opens the hatch out of the cockpit. “Close this as
soon as we’re out!”
<<My name is Woman. For the longest time, that’s
the only thing people called me,>> comes Cecilia’s voice on the
recording.
“Salvation? Is the file ‘Angel of Salvation’ a
text file or a voice file?” asks Herangelia.
<<That is a text file,>> says the computer.
“Open the file ‘Angel of Salvation’,” says
Herangelia as everyone else climbs out of Gundam Salvation with the rope,
“Split screen.” She closes the cockpit door.
Herangelia reads one file and listens to the other as her
friends and family tie up the prisoners.
* * *
Just a little over three hours later, two large cargo
planes land in the clearing and come to a stop beside the two Gundams and the
multitude of prisoners.
Detective Nikki Moulzolf, formerly of Scotland Yard but
currently the highest ranking officer on the International Anti-Pacifist Task
Force, climbs out of one of the planes followed by several other officers.
“It’s nice to see you again, Wufei, Quatre! Where did you get the giant toys?”
“Spirit Toys!” exclaims Lonely, “Don’t they look
life-like? I’m Lonely Alone, co-owner of Spirit Toys. I don’t think we’ll run
these toys. They don’t stand up to the durability tests!”
Nikki laughs as her men start to move all the people into
the two planes.
“Nikki, could you get us a plane here? Something to hold
ten people and the pilot?” asks Heero, “We’re going to destroy these Gundams.”
Nikki pulls out her phone and makes a call. “They’ll be
here in an hour. You owe me for this!”
“You owe us for catching all these anti-pacifists,” says
Duo. He grins broadly.
“Even then,” says Nikki.
“We’re going to go over to where we had our battle,” says
Quatre quietly, “It was nice to see you, Nikki.”
“Thanks for all of your help, Gundam pilots,” whispers
Nikki.
“You’re welcome,” says Trowa nodding.
Wufei smiles. “Hopefully we got everyone.”
Nikki smiles and nods. She turns and walks away to direct
her men.
Everyone climbs into Gundam Salvation.
Gundam Salvation and Gundam Destruction fly up out of the
clearing and land beside the wreckage of the house.
“All right! We have one hour to get Cecilia out and
destroy the two Gundams!” exclaims Lonely, “Relena! Did you find out how?”
Herangelia nods as she un-harnesses herself.
“So how do we get her out?” asks Heero anxiously.
“We need to go outside,” says Herangelia, “She told me to
look into my heart, but then she called me the Angel of Salvation! The file by
that name lists a lot of the modifications she made to the original plans. She
didn’t mean my heart! She meant Salvation’s heart! We have to
search the heart region of Salvation for a heart-shaped indentation!” She hits
the button to open the door. She hurries outside.
Heero rushes out as soon as he un-harnesses himself.
“A small indentation that looks like a heart?” asks Trowa
as he un-harnesses himself, “Good luck everyone!”
“We’ll need it,” mumbles Duo under his breath.
Everyone hurries out and starts search for the small
imprint.
Spirit climbs out of Gundam Destruction. “Hey! What are
we looking for?”
“We’re looking for a small heart-shaped imprint! It’s the
keyhole we need to get Cecilia out!” exclaims Wufei.
“It’s supposed to be somewhere around Salvation’s heart!”
adds Quatre.
“I’ll help you look for it!” exclaims Spirit climbing up
Salvation, “Is it on the outside or could it be locked within the missile
compartment?”
“Missile compartment?” asks Lonely.
“That’s right. The chest opens up to shoot missiles!”
exclaims Duo.
“It could be either way,” says Wufei, “but it would make
more sense to have it inside with the missile openings.”
“We’ll search the outside first,” says Trowa.
Quatre nods. “Then it we don’t find it, we’ll open the
compartment and keep searching!”
Lonely slides her hands along the surface of Gundam
Salvation, searching desperately for the small keyhole. “We have to find it! Now!”
Herangelia hugs her body to the surface of Gundam
Salvation as she scales the side to get up onto the shoulder.
“We’ll find the keyhole and get her our or else I’ll rip
Salvation apart piece by piece!” exclaims Heero looking around for any signs of
a shadow that could be the keyhole.
“Hey, Wufei! Why don’t we search the back?” asks Quatre.
“The heart can be reached from the back as well,” says
Wufei moving over to Quatre, “I’m with you!” They slide around to the back of
the Gundam.
“Yell if you find anything!” exclaims Trowa.
“We’ll yell if we don’t find the keyhole!” jokes Duo.
“Don’t joke, Duo!” exclaims Heero.
“And don’t argue! It prevents you from locating the
keyhole!” exclaims Spirit.
“Hey! I think we found it!” exclaims Quatre, “It looks
like two hearts!”
“The locket must open up for the key!” exclaims Duo.
“Toss me the locket!” exclaims Wufei.
Herangelia pulls the locket from around her neck, and she
drops it down to Wufei.
Wufei catches the locket and opens it. He looks at the
picture of the five young Gundam pilots… long before they knew there were
seven. He places the key into the keyhole and presses it in.
A hidden door slides up and the computerized voice of
Salvation asks, <<Password?>>
Heero Trowa, Duo, Lonely, and Spirit run around to the
back.
“Password? What password?” asks Spirit.
<<Invalid password.>>
“Goddess of Despair!” exclaims Lonely.
<<Invalid password.>>
“Angel of Salvation!” exclaims Trowa.
<<Invalid password.>>
“Cecilia!” cries Heero.
<<Invalid password.>>
Herangelia pushes herself off Gundam Salvation’s shoulder
and slides down towards Quatre and Wufei.
Quatre and Wufei catch Herangelia and help her get her
footing.
“Cecilia, dammit!” exclaims Herangelia pounding on the
second door.
<<Invalid password.>>
“Herangelia! Watch your language!” exclaims Heero.
<<Invalid password.>>
“Dammit! Cecilia! You are the only woman who’s ever been
in my life! You’re the only one I’ve ever cared about! From the moment I could
understand, you’ve told me you’re not my mother! But you always acted like it!”
exclaims Herangelia crying and pounding on the door.
<<Invalid password.>>
“Cecilia, you are my mother! I want you to
be my mother! I love you, Cecilia! I love you! I want you to be my mother!”
exclaims Herangelia hitting the second door one last time.
<<Password accepted,>> says the computer.
The second doorway slides up to reveal Cecilia in the
inner chamber.
The shackles on Cecilia’s wrists and ankles open, and she
starts to fall out.
Cecilia falls into Herangelia’s arms.
Herangelia falls backwards as she embraces Cecilia.
Heero and Trowa rush to catch the two people.
“Cecilia?” asks Spirit.
“Are you all right?” asks Trowa.
“Hello, everyone. I’m fine!” exclaims Cecilia smiling as
she embraces Herangelia, “I’m sorry, precious. I never meant to make you cry!”
“Cecilia. What was the password?” asks Quatre climbing
down with Wufei.
“I love you! The password was ‘I love you’!” exclaims
Cecilia, “Only someone who looked to their heard for the password could get me
out! I heard everything you said, Herangelia. You’re right. I only have one
daughter, and she’s always been you!”
Lonely pulls Cecilia and Herangelia to their feet, and
she quickly hugs them both. “I’m glad you’re back, Cecilia!”
“We all are,” says Wufei.
“Yeah. You’re the only one who understands my jokes!”
exclaims Duo grinning.
“Cecilia?” asks Herangelia moving out of their embrace,
“will you marry my father?”
Cecilia’s eyes widen at the question. She looks towards Heero.
The look in Heero’s eyes clearly asks, ‘Will you?’
Cecilia turns away from Herangelia. She faces Heero and
abruptly pulls him into her arms. She gives him a long, passionate kiss.
Heero’s knees weaken, and he stumbles further into
Cecilia’s arms.
Cecilia pulls out of their long kiss with several shorter
kisses. “I LOVE YOU, HEERO! Heero, would you marry me?”
“Cecilia! I love you, Cecilia! Yes! I will marry you!”
exclaims Heero, and he kisses Cecilia’s lips. “But you know… I’m
supposed to be asking you that question!”
“I think it’s a bit too late for that!” exclaims Duo
chuckling, “She can’t un-ask you!”
“Congratulations, you two,” says Trowa.
“I want to be at your side forever,” says Cecilia as
Heero runs his hands through her short brown hair.
Herangelia embraces Heero and Cecilia quickly. “I won’t
call you Mom though. That name is reserved for Relena, but I’d love to call you
Mother if you’d let me!”
Cecilia kisses Herangelia’s cheek and nods happily.
“All right! We have to set the self destruct on these two
Gundams!” exclaims Spirit.
“Our ride home will be here shortly!” exclaims Lonely.
“How do we self-destruct Salvation?” asks Quatre, “I
thought the Self Destruct Chamber had to have someone inside to be active.”
“No one is going to die!” exclaims Wufei.
“The world is at peace. It’s your show, Herangelia!”
exclaims Cecilia smiling as she holds Heero close to her.
“Gundam Salvation! Activate Self Destruct Sequence!
Five-minute timer! Good-bye, Salvation!” exclaims Herangelia.
<<Good-bye, Relena,>> says the computer,
<<Self Destruct Sequence initialized.>>
Spirit pulls out a small box. “I’ll remote detonate
Destruction.”
“Let’s go everyone!” exclaims Duo.
“Let’s go home!” adds Trowa.
They all head into the forest, and in a few minutes, they
hear two thunderous explosions.
The plane lands in the clearing a few moments later.
Everyone climbs into the plane and returns to the Sanc
Kingdom.
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