Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Wing ❯ Broken Wing - Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Broken Wing - Chapter Four



Author's Note: Chapter four was originally intended to be a comedy chapter. But there were a few things in the plotline (rather important I might add) that I had forgotten about and had to add to chapter four, therefore pushing back the humor until chapter five. I'm sorry; I know a lot of you are wondering if there's going to be anything but death, sorrow, and destruction in this fanfic. Don't worry! Humor is coming! Chapter five, don't miss it! Also, the myth that Duo talks about in this chapter is a real myth of ancient Greece. The part about the new moon I added myself, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was really part of the myth as well. Anyway, I'll be quiet now. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Um… Sailormoon isn't mine. Sailormoon is Takeuchi Naoko-sama's. Gundam Wing isn't mine. Um… I don't know who owns GW, but it isn't me. Please don't sue me.



Broken Wing - Chapter Four



Usagi knitted her eyebrows in puzzlement. Crystal Tokyo looked as if in the middle of being rebuilt. She had assumed that she would be taken to a peaceful time of Crystal Tokyo further in the future than the last time they visited. Apparently that assumption was very wrong. She turned to Endymion to see that his civilian clothing was gone, replaced by the light violet tuxedo that marked him as the king of this kingdom. In his hand he held the scepter that matched NeoQueen Serenity's eternal tier scepter.
"Why are we here?" she asked him, "Why did you bring me to this time?"
"You'll have to ask Setsuna-san that," he replied, a smile creeping onto his face as he looked ahead, "she's the one who came to me in this time."
Usagi followed his gaze and saw herself, Serenity, standing in the doorway of Crystal Keep. Usagi felt the oddest sense of déjà vu when she studied the woman, seeing so much of herself in the older visage. Endymion stepped forward and into the arms of his wife and they shared a tight embrace, as if they had been separated an eternity.
"Usagi-chan no baka!"
She was knocked down by a pink blur that shot out from behind Serenity. This blur had flashing crimson eyes and a shrill, child-like voice.
"Chibiusa-chan!" Usagi giggled as the child threw her stubby little arms about her neck.
"It's been a whole month since we defeated the Death Phantom! What have you done without me? Hey, you look older than I remember!" Chibiusa leaned back, studying the younger version of her mother intently.
"It's been two years since then, in the time that I come from," Usagi smiled.
"We've actually been thinking about sending Small Lady back into the past," Serenity said lovingly, looking down on her daughter and past self, "For training and . . . social interaction." The last was said with a special emphasis, and Usagi understood. When they sent Chibiusa back in time she met - or would meet- the girl Tomoe Hotaru and set in motion an important chain of events.
"I can't wait to go!" Chibiusa exclaimed excitedly, then catching herself, folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air, "But not to see you! I want more of Mako-chan's cookies!"
Laughter was shared about the group as Chibiusa looked on in ignorant confusion. All but the child knew how much she and Usagi would come to care for each other and depend on each other. Then Endymion and Serenity led her inside to wait for Setsuna and whatever destiny the Guardian might bring with her.


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


In the limbo of the realms between Times, Setsuna sighed and set her Time Staff beside the Gate. She was exhausted from her efforts. Finally, all five Gundam pilots were safe on Earth, for the time being at least. All that was left was to bring Usagi into the game.
Setsuna frowned.
She knew that Usagi had been hiding a secret from her friends and even Mamoru. It was this secret that caused Setsuna to choose this particular version of Tsukino Usagi over any other. It was to be a valuable commodity in the coming battles, but Setsuna worried that Usagi would hesitate to reveal this secret even to her. She did not want to pry the mystery from the girl, even though she already knew what it was; she wanted Usagi to tell her on her own. When the princess managed that step of trust, then the real tests and battles could begin.
She opened a small seeing portal on the base outside of Sanch Kingdom. There she beheld a sight that saddened her.
Hiiro sat silently in the living room, staring at his laptop screen. Duo was in his room, pretending to read a book of Roman mythology while he pointedly ignored the Bible. Wufei was in his own room meditating quietly. Only Quatre and Trowa were together. The blonde boy was showing his taller companion around, talking in a tone of relief. Trowa, for the most part, seemed to be enjoying Quatre's company, even if in the manner of the confused. It seemed that the only hope were these two boys. Setsuna prayed that Usagi would be able to join all five of them together.
Only one way to find out.


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


Usagi was awakened with a jolt by a hard object prodding her in the back. She sat up quickly, yawning.
"Whaaaaaaaaat?" she grumbled sleepily.
"It's time to go, Usagi-chan."
Usagi straightened.
"Setsuna-san?"
"Hai, now get up and get dressed. Quickly!" Setsuna spoke from the darkness, urgency lacing her stern voice. Usagi nodded dumbly and rose, rushing over to the dresser the best she could in the dark. She paused a moment, then decided that it didn't matter whether she changed in front of Setsuna. It was dark, and Setsuna wasn't interested in that anyway. Years of practice getting dressed quickly paid off, for she was ready in less than thirty seconds.
"Shouldn't we tell the king and queen?"
"They will know. Don't forget, she is you. She's lived this and knows exactly when you're leaving, where you're going, and what will happen to you."
"Oh, yeah. Well at least I know I'm gonna live through this!" Usagi gave a nervous laugh, which trailed off when Setsuna didn't respond.
"I've told you many times, Usagi-chan, the future is never set in stone."
Usagi gulped.


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


The princess stared down at the ruins of her once beautiful kingdom. Tears filled her iridescent blue eyes as she realized that her entire life had been destroyed in a matter of moments. All of her friends were dead; so was her love. She felt the angry eyes of the prince's four royal guards fixed on her even as she sobbed her own grief. They blamed her for his death; she knew they did. She only vaguely saw the silver-white pools of her hair that lay across the body of her slain prince. All she could see were the dull holes of dark blue that once were so alive, and the paling death-grey of his skin. The wound still bled; the pool of black-red blood that marked his fall was steadily growing larger, even though he had long passed beyond needing it for life.
"Endymion . . ."
Her voice was quiet, a strangled bird that tried to fight itself free of her throat. Behind her lay the body of Endymion's murderer, whom the princess's main protector had cut down before the four of them were killed. But she cared not for that carcass. It meant nothing to her.
"Endymion . . ." this time the word was louder, clearer, as the only course of action became apparent to her. She let her slender white hand caress his pale cheek for only a moment, and then lowered it to his still sheathed sword. Her hesitation lasted a second at most, then she jerked the sword free of its earthly sheath. One last look at his body, and she turned the blade in on herself.
"SERENITY!"
The voice of her mother calling her name. It was enough to make her pause again, but not enough to stop the grieving princess.
"I'm sorry, Mother," she murmured, then braced herself for the final act . . .


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


At the moment the princess drove her dead fiancée's sword into her own body, Quatre shot straight up in bed. His blue eyes were wide, as if he had seen the suicide with them and not his mind's eye. For a moment he looked about the room, not quite certain where exactly he was. When the memory came back to him of the base he and the other pilots shared, Quatre released a sigh and lifted a hand to his forehead. Sweat soaked his skin and his hair clung to his damp forehead.
"Serenity . . . Endymion . . ." he rolled the uncomfortable names around his mouth and let them spill from his lips. What an odd dream, with such strange names. He didn't recall any incident in history that he might have taken the scene from, although that must have been what happened. His mind simply could not create such a dream episode from nothing. Could it?
Quatre tossed the blankets back and rose, moving over to the window. He looked out and up, into the night sky where the moon hung bright and serenely against the velvet black. For no reason that he could comprehend, the sight filled him with a powerful sense of sorrow and loss. To him the moon should have meant nothing more than a place to go, an OZ base to destroy. But from Earth, with the clouds hanging in the sky beside it, a soft glow paintbrushed out from its edges, the moon was the most divinely beautiful thing he had ever laid his mortal eyes on. Tears spontaneously swelled from his eyes, threatening to spill before he wiped them away.
With a sudden restlessness moving his heart, Quatre turned and walked silently out of his room down the hall and knocked on Duo's door.
"Yeah?"
He opened the door and peered inside.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you . . ."
"Nah, just doing some reading." Duo held up one of the mythology books that lined his bookshelves. Quatre stepped inside and closed the door.
"I just wanted to ask you something."
"Ask away."
"Well . . . who is the goddess of the moon?"
"Huh?" Duo lifted a chestnut eyebrow at the question, quite unexpected, "Where'd you come up with a question like that, huh Quatre?"
"Oh . . . um . . . I don't know. I was just curious."
Duo glanced at him askance again, then sighed and motioned to the shelves.
"Depends on what culture you mean. Every ancient culture had its own moon deity. Some even had several. Isis was one of them in ancient Egypt. There was Diana in Rome, Artemis and Hecate were the newer moon goddesses of ancient Greece, but before them there was Selene-"
"What?" Quatre stopped his friend, "What was the last one?"
"Selene. She was the older moon goddess of Greece."
Quatre sat down on the floor in front of Duo, his eyes glued onto the braided boy.
"Tell me more about her."
"Well . . . there's one story about Selene where she fell in love with a human shepherd. It's said that she was so in love with this human that she forgot her duties as the moon goddess, so Zeus, the king of the gods, decided that something had to be done. So he offered the shepherd two choices: to either die, or spend the rest of eternity in a deep sleep."
"What did he choose?" Quatre asked, held rapt by the myth of the moon goddess and the Earth man.
"To sleep of course! What idiot would choose to die? Anyway, the myth says that the shepherd still sleeps somewhere in a cave on Earth, where Selene visits him every month. That's the origin of the new moon, the time when the moon can't be seen. It's because Selene is visiting her love."
"This shepherd . . . did he have a name?"
"Yeah, let me see . . ." Duo plucked the proper book from the shelf and flipped through it until he came to the right page, "Endymion. His name was Endymion."
Quatre was silent. Endymion . . . It was simply too much of a coincidence. To hear a name similar to that of the princess in his dream, and then the exact name of the prince, both in connection with the moon that moved him to tears had to be significant.
"Quatre, you okay?"
"Duo, is there any mention of why the other goddesses took Selene's place?"
Duo shrugged.
"Not really. It's possible that the Greeks created Artemis and Hecate, or gave them Selene's place, just to satisfy a question about nature that they couldn't answer otherwise. There may be no other reason than that."
"Is it . . . possible . . ." Quatre slowed, forming his question carefully before continuing, "Is it possible that Selene died? From the loss of Endymion?"
"I guess so," Duo paused, considering, "Most cultures made their gods immortal, able to be killed by only certain people, things, or animals. The Norse gods were different, immortal only so long as they weren't killed. But as far as I know the only Greek god who was ever killed was Pan."
"Oh . . ." Quatre fell into silence, attempting to work out this incongruent detail.
"Is there any point to all of this?" Duo asked, sliding the book back into place.
"Not really," Quatre replied, standing up and giving a small smile, "I was just curious. Thanks, Duo."
"No problem."
The blonde boy turned and walked to the door, but before leaving he paused and decided to speak.
"Duo . . . if you pray to any deities at all, pray to Selene. I think that she's watching over us, and of all the gods she's most likely to answer."


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


Usagi stood before the great white doors of the Time Gate for the second time in her most recent lifetime. They hadn't changed at all, but she got the impression from Setsuna's ever-static personality that not much ever changed in this place.
"You remember how to travel the Time warp, don't you, Usagi-chan?" Setsuna was saying.
"Yes, I remember. I have to hold your hand and focus on my destination the entire time, otherwise I could get lost anywhere in Time and Space." Usagi paused, then giggled nervously, "Oh yeah, what IS my destination anyway?"
"You wouldn't recognize the date," Setsuna replied cryptically, "Just know that it's three thousand years after Crystal Tokyo."
Three thousand . . . that means it's four thousand years from my time!!
"Wow," she said aloud, linking her hand with the older woman's. She watched as Setsuna tapped the end of her Time Staff against the floor and the Gate opened wide. Before them stretched the oddly colored expanse of the Time warp, also no different than that day two years ago when the Senshi traveled to Crystal Tokyo.
"Ready?"
Usagi nodded silently as Setsuna stepped forward, pulling her along.
The sudden sense of vertigo was no easier to cope with this second time around. Colors, mostly red, orange, and violet, washed around her in a myriad of tie-dyed designs. Immediately Usagi felt sick. She felt the gentle squeeze of Setsuna's hand, an encouraging gesture. Then the Guardian began to speak.
"This is something very important, Usagi-chan. I'm not exactly the Setsuna you know, and when you are finally returned to your own time, you must never mention this to me. I'm the Setsuna from four thousand years in your future. That is the present for me, and I'm bringing you from my past. Do you understand?"
Usagi gave a slow nod, letting this information sink in.
"This future is vastly different than anything you may have imagined when you first saw Crystal Tokyo. The magic that you and the Senshi brought into the world is all but vanished. Science and technology rule here, mostly in the form of military weapons," Setsuna frowned, and the expression revealed only a speckled view of her true age, "There is a war in this time, Usagi-chan. It's a war between an organization called OZ, which controls nearly everything now, and five boys who pilot machines called Gundams. Don't worry that you don't know anything about this future, you'll learn very quickly, I'm certain."
"But how am I supposed to do any good when I don't even know what a Gundam looks like, let alone what it does?"
"Don't ask questions, Usagi-chan!" Setsuna's voice was laced with an uncharacteristic desperation that silenced the inquisitive girl, "I'm bringing you here to help these five Gundam pilots. Their names are Hiiro, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei. All of them are important but pay special attention to Hiiro. He's the most vital person in this point of the Timeline.
"And Usagi-chan, remember this above all things: All five of these boys, no matter how kind they may seem, are trained killers. Two of them were raised since childhood knowing how to fight and kill and the other three were quick studies. They are kind underneath, but all are very dangerous. Until you know for certain that you have gained their trust, and that they deserve yours, never turn you back on them."
Usagi stared ahead into the Time warp, considering the words of the Guardian as they continued. Five boys, all trained killers, and she was supposed to help them somehow? Had Setsuna gone completely crazy?
"We're almost there," Setsuna gestured ahead with the hand that held her Time Staff, "there's the door-"
She was cut off as an unexpected wind buffeted the two of them. Usagi felt her hand slipping from Setsuna's grasp and tightened her hold franticly, trying to keep at least the older woman' fingers in hold. But the wind was so strong, and her hair whipped at her face violently, blocking her view. She couldn't even see Setsuna anymore through the wild strands of gold. Then, without warning, her hand was empty.
"SETSUNA!!"
If there was an answer it could not be heard for the wind.
Usagi tumbled through the air, confused, disoriented; she couldn't tell which way was up and which was down. Now she fully understood why the Time Guardian insisted that they hold hands . . . this was a thousand times worse than when the youma had trapped them within the Warp. She had no choice in her destination now, only a sinking hope that she might not be killed in the journey.
Minna . . . Mamo-chan . . . gomen nasai . . .
Then the tumbling ceased.
Usagi lowered her arms, which had been crossed before her face, and took a look at her surroundings.
She was inside a building, the walls made out of a dull grey material. They were smooth, with no shelves or anything projecting from them. The walls were quite boring actually. The space stretched out long before her and behind her. She was in a hallway.
Usagi slowly pushed herself to her feet and smoothed out her blue school skirt, then tried to press down her hair. She found that her buns were in disarray, nearly completely undone. She sighed, but left them as they were. It might look horrible, but at least she wouldn't be tripping over her hair like she would if it were down. Maybe she could find a bathroom or somewhere with a mirror.
Her shoes made hesitant clicks on the metal floor as she walked, as if they too were unsure of this place. She could find no doors, only continuing hallways that looped in and on each other. This place was a maze, and if she weren't careful she'd find herself lost forever.
"Halt! Identify yourself!"
Usagi turned in the direction of the voice to find two soldiers, both with very dangerous looking guns pointed at her. She stuttered before finally managing a shaky question.
"W-what?"
"I said identify yourself!" the lead soldier shouted, annoyed at her for being so slow.
"I . . . uh . . ." she stalled, suddenly quite certain that she didn't want to tell this person her name, "I'm . . . Hino Rei!"
"Hino Rei?"
The two soldiers glanced at each other, obviously wondering about the name.
"Yup, that's me, Hino Rei," Usagi grinned and waved at them cheerfully, "Now, if it's okay with you, I'll just be going somewhere where no one points guns at me."
"Stop!"
Usagi paused, her heart sinking as they pointed their weapons at her, seemingly more determined to shoot her than before.
"You aren't going anywhere until you've had a talk with our commander."
"Is there a problem here?"
Usagi turned, as did the soldiers, to face the person who'd spoken. The girl nearly shouted aloud when she saw Setsuna, dressed in a uniform similar to that of these men, only fancier.
"Yes, Lieutenant Meioh, there is a problem," the leader said, gazing at her with a mixture of fear and hatred, "We've got an intruder who seems to think that this is all a joke."
"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of her."
"But-"
"I said don't worry about it," Setsuna's eyes flashed maroon as she looked at the soldier, and he slowly lowered his gun, seemingly in accordance with her order. But as she moved closer to Usagi he suddenly snapped the weapon up again, pointing it at Setsuna this time.
"I don't know what you're trying to pull, but it's not going to work. I take my orders only from the top, not from some transferred Lieutenant. Now, I'll be taking the intruder to the commander, as my prisoner."
Usagi saw Setsuna grimace, and reach for her transformation pen. No! she thought, knowing that if Setsuna transformed now she'd be giving away her cover. Usagi wasn't sure about what was going on, but she did know that her older friend was trying to hide herself within these people. So she did the only thing she could think of.
She called up the power of the Silver Crystal.
Doing this had become easier in the past few months, ever since her sixteenth birthday. One day the Silver Crystal started answering all of her wishes, which caused a few accidents and hooplas, but nothing that she couldn't handle. Usagi didn't know if she had matured enough to use the Crystal in the two years since she'd discovered her true identity, or if there was just something about the age of sixteen that allowed her to access its power. All she knew was that it was more trouble than it was worth.
"What's that?" the soldier asked, stepping backwards from the light that began to grow between Usagi's outstretched hands. She didn't answer, and in a moment the Silver Crystal was floating serenely in the air before her.
"Gomen ne," she said, then released a large blast of white power. This blast knocked the two soldiers back and against the wall. The leader tried to get up, but another blast pushed him back and knocked him out. Usagi looked up to see Setsuna smiling at her.
"Very good, Usagi-chan."
"Well . . . yeah . . ." She didn't know whether she should explain her actions or not. Then Usagi realized that this Setsuna probably already knew about her newfound control of the Crystal. "It's getting easier."
"I know," said the older woman, then she extended her hand towards Usagi, "Usagi-chan, you have to give me the Crystal."
"WHAT?!?" Usagi hugged the Crystal close to her, partially turning away. "I can't do that! Setsuna-san, without the Crystal I'll be powerless!"
"Usagi-chan, the fewer people in this Time who know about your true identity and your powers, the better. Especially now that OZ will know about you. They'll be looking for you and they won't be kind if they find you."
The girl paused, considering. She glanced at the two fallen soldiers, and knew that the leader would not let this go. From his personality she could tell that he would consider this a personal slight against him. At last she sighed and reluctantly handed over the Crystal, now again nestled in its safe position in the brooch.
"Don't worry, you'll get it back when it's time."
Usagi eyed Setsuna warily, distrusting the Senshi with her most priceless treasure. Without the Silver Crystal she felt naked, defenseless.
"Come on, Usagi-chan. Luckily you fell in the right Time, just the wrong place." Setsuna extended her hand to her young companion again, "I can only transport us so far. We'll have to take a shuttle to Earth."
"You mean . . . we're NOT on Earth???"
Setsuna laughed a little, the expression of amusement slightly breaking away her mask of sternness. For a moment Usagi could almost believe that this woman had been a friend for far longer than she had.
"No, we're on a ship in space. It's called Barge and it belongs to OZ. That's why we have to get off of it now."
Usagi sighed and took Setsuna's offered hand and in moments they were standing in a completely different place. She shook her head and blinked, trying to get used to the sudden change.
"I didn't know you could do that."
"I can do a lot that you don't know about."
"Oh . . ." Usagi looked about, seeing what looked like a normal park setting. There were children playing on swing sets; fortunately it seemed that none of them had paid any attention to the sudden appearance of two strangers in their midst. She was about to ask Setsuna if the woman was absolutely certain that they weren't on Earth when her eyes happened to wander upwards. There she saw, instead of blue sky and the sun, a ceiling of dull grey metal and bright spotlights that apparently simulated sunlight. She swallowed hard.
"I know, Usagi-chan. It's odd isn't it?" Setsuna looked out on the children and the adults who hovered in the background, talking amongst themselves, "Most of these people have never really seen the sky. They don't know what the sun looks like, or how it feels to gaze up into the night sky and see the vast blanket of stars stretching into forever. These children will grow up the same way for the most part. Save for one," she pointed to a little blonde-haired boy who looked to be about four or five, "that boy will grow up to be a great leader, and he will be the only one of his generation to ever travel to the Earth."
"But why, Setsuna-san?" Usagi breathed in pained disbelief, "Why don't these people go to Earth? Don't they know how beautiful and wonderful it is?"
Setsuna shook her head sadly.
"No, they don't. They've been told lies about the Earth, lies that tell them the Earth is corrupt, dirty, and dangerous. It's true to a point, because one can't be completely safe where ever they go, but the problem is not nearly as bad as they've been lead to believe. And since these common people have no contact with Earth they don't know not to believe what they've heard."
Usagi gazed in silence on the group of children, her eyes wavering as she thought of how deprived they were, and would be for their entire lives. Then the little boy skipped over to her, and she looked down at him in bewilderment. He smiled.
"You're from the Earth, aren't you?" he asked innocently, and Usagi blinked.
"H-hai. How did you know?"
"All people from Earth look as confused as you. You all have the same look on your face, like you've lost something."
"No . . . I haven't lost anything," she smiled after a moment, "I think it's the people who live here that suffer the greatest loss."
The boy tilted his head to the side and stared at her in confusion. He didn't yet understand what she meant, but she knew that he would one day. She patted him on the head gently, earning a suspicious glance from his mother. Usagi smiled at her, and that smile alone was enough to put the woman's fears to rest. When she finally looked back up at Setsuna, the Guardian was smiling and seemed satisfied somehow.
"Let's go and register a shuttle," she said and walked off, Usagi skipping behind her in order to keep up.


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


Two days later, one day of rest and one of travel, Usagi stood in the middle of a forest. Her newly cleaned school uniform and her neatly bunned hair were disturbed only by a slight wind. Setsuna lifted her face to the sky and smiled.
"Good to be on Earth again, ne, Usagi-chan?"
"Hai, Setsuna-san."
Setsuna breathed in the fresh air deeply then released the breath in a contented sigh.
"The base is just over that hill there," she pointed to a small rise in the ground just ahead of them, "I'm sure at least Quatre will be waiting for us. He tends to know when I'm coming."
The trek was a short one but vastly too much work for Usagi, whose idea of exercise was racing to school every morning. It was a good twenty minutes before she joined a silent Setsuna at the top of the hill. Usagi crouched over, panting in exhaustion and clinging to her companion's arm for support. When at last she'd gotten her breath, Usagi realized that Setsuna had said nothing in the past few minutes. She looked up and saw the oddest expression on the Guardian's face, one of mixed shock, fear, and amusement. In order to see just what it was that shocked Setsuna so, Usagi looked down the hill towards the base.
In the little valley which nestled a run down looking building, chaos was in the process of wrecking havoc, in that way it tends to do.
Five boys were either standing or running. The one with long, braided hair was laughing maniacally as he ran, what looked like a black marker clutched in one hand. Not far behind him was a dark haired Oriental boy, who waved a menacing katana in the air and screamed incoherently in the general direction of his prey. In the background stood a tall, lanky boy with amazingly buoyant red-brown bangs. His face was flushed a bright, embarrassed red, probably because behind him cowered another boy. At first Usagi thought his hair was blonde, but upon closer inspection she saw that it was actually a light shade of pink. This one followed the movements of the black-haired boy as if afraid that he would be the next victim of the katana's wrath. And behind them all stood an inexpressive boy with crossed arms, dripping wet and wearing nothing but a towel.
Usagi looked up at Setsuna, one golden eyebrow arched.
"These are your trained killers?"


End Chapter Four