Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Childhood Reborn ❯ Escape ( Chapter 24 )

The pilots stared at Jacinda with questioning eyes, even Duo whose face was grim and tight.

 

“Cebastion and I knew we had no choice but to leave.” She said. “But we also knew that there was a lot at stake. There was no leaving the Alliance unless it was through death. But we also knew that no matter how we would be able to leave, we would leave together, and also when we left that he and I completed our own personal mission before settling our lives.”

 

The past

 

Jacinda and Cebastion (who had now physically recovered) took an evening stroll outside the compound. They held each other's hands tightly as the need for comfort was imminent. This was not one of their romantic walks under the stars; it was their way of planning in disguise.

 

“I am being deployed again.” Cebastion said tiredly.

 

“But you just recovered!” Jacinda argued. “I would think they would at least have you still on base for awhile after all you went through.”

 

Cebastion shook his head.

 

“We are being ordered to guard a smaller base on L4. I shouldn't be gone longer than a week or so.”

 

Jacinda sighed.

 

“Maybe you can use that to escape.” She said. “And when you get settled you can contact me. I am sure there are places on L4 you can find refuge.”

 

Cebastion shook his head.

 

“I am not leaving without you Jacinda.” He said. “I'll do this mission, come back, and then you and I will escape. I heard about a medical shipment being deployed to L2 in a few weeks. Can you find a way to go with it?”

 

Jacinda nodded.

 

“I am sure I can.” She said. “We are supposed to be delivering medical supplies to a hospital that is being reconstructed. I can say I want to check on the patients there.”

 

Even though that's lot of garbage.” He said. “We both know that the medicine is going to some head honcho who has a little cold or wants to privately sell the supplies for profit.”

 

Jacinda agreed.

 

“I know.”

 

She looked at him.

 

“So I am assuming you are going to hide in one of the large cargo boxes.”

 

Cebastion nodded.

 

“Then you and I will sneak out in the middle of the night. Make it look like a lovers rendezvous but then I will set off a bomb, make it look like you and I were attacked, and basically fake our own deaths. We'll have to go into hiding for awhile until we know for sure it is safe. It's L2 so we may have to scrounge for awhile. I do have some money.”

 

Jacinda nodded.

 

“My inheritance from my parents is still on Earth.” She said. “I can find hack into the system and get it. But why are we going to L2. Wouldn't L4 or L1 be better for us to live on? Medical shipments are going to those colonies all the time.”

 

They walked for a bit until Cebastion finally worked up the nerve to tell her.

 

“Jacinda?” He said. “What if I told you that there is another reason I want us to use L2 as our starting point?”

 

Jacinda shrugged.

 

“Which is?” She asked.

 

Cebastion scratched the back of his head.

 

“You remember that boy I told you I saw on L2, after…the bombing?”

 

“Yes.” She answered.

 

Cebastion sighed.

 

“Well, to be honest…I want us to find him.”

 

Jacinda stopped.

 

“What?” She whispered.

 

Cebastion turned to her and took her hands.

 

“Look Jacinda.” He said. “I took that boy's home from him and even worse his family. I want to find him, apologize to him! I owe him that much!”

 

“But you didn't fire at the orphanage Cebastion.” Jacinda said.

 

“But I did nothing to stop it!”

 

“You keep blaming yourself.” She said. “You tried to get the commander to change the order, but there was nothing you could do.”

He shook his head.

 

“Yes I could have.” He said. “And we can argue this until the cows come home, but regardless Jacinda I want us to find him. Hell, if we have the chance, let's take him with us!”

 

Jacinda gasped.

 

“Are you serious!?” She said. “Cebastion, the odds of us finding him are slim to none and if we do, who says he'll want to go with us! I understand your intent, what do you think we can do for him if we are on the run!”

 

Cebastion sighed.

 

“Jacinda, I want to give him a home.” He said. “He may only be 10 or 11 years younger than us, but we can provide for him like a parent may. I am willing to search all of the colonies if we have to in order to find him. I just want to give him something he deserves after he lost so much.”

 

Jacinda took her hand and caressed Cebastion's cheek.

 

“Cebastion.” She said. “It's a big responsibility. And it's not just providing we are talking about here, its caring for and loving him as any parent would. Can we do that if we are on the run from OZ?”

 

Cebastion chuckled.

 

“Jacinda you one of the most loving people out there.” He said. “I'm surprised you would even doubt yourself being able to love a kid. You would make a wonderful mother.”

 

Jacinda smiled.

 

“And you would make a great father.” She said. “The way you talk about this boy, you make it sound like he's your own.”

 

“I want him to be ours Jacinda.” He said. “But that's up to him. He has every right to refuse our help in the end. But I want the option to be open to him and for him to know how truly sorry I am. I want him to know that there are two people who want to give him a home. After what I did, it's probably the least I can do.”

 

Jacinda placed her forehead on Cebastion's.

 

“You are very hard to say no to Cebastion Grannos.” She said. “Alright, let's go find him.”

 

Cebastion grinned and gathered Jacinda in his arms.

 

“Really?” He asked. “You are not just saying this.”

 

“Hehe..yes..of course!” She said. “I want us to help him too. And if decides to be with us, all the better. I just hope we can help him.”

 

“We can.” He said. “I know we can!”

 

Jacinda smiled.

 

“You know before you and I go any further with our plan there is one more thing I want us to do!” He said.

 

“What's that?” Jacinda asked.

 

Cebastion got down on his knee and removed a ring from his pocket.

 

“Jacinda Epione, will you marry me?”

 

Jacinda gasped.

 

“Cebastion?”

 

He smiled.

 

“Hey if we are going to do everything that's illegal, might as well try for something that is legal! Besides, if we want to give this boy a family, we should do it right! And aside from all of that, Jacinda, I have loved you since we were kids. I have wanted to marry you for years! It's not just some idea I came up with because of what happened on L2. I really honestly want you to be my wife, now more than ever!! I can't see my life without you.”

 

“Oh my God.” Jacinda said. “You are crazy.”

 

“I'm hoping that's a yes.”

 

Jacinda giggled.

 

“Yes, I'll marry you!” She said happily.

 

Cebastion laughed and once again pulled Jacinda into his arms for a sweet kiss. Then he took the ring and put it on her finger.

 

“Now I'm sorry to say it is just some copper I fashioned into a ring.” He said. “I wanted to get you a real one, but we need to save the money when we are on the run. I promise I will give you a real diamond when it's safe. Once we know OZ has forgotten about us, we'll go out and find a priest and make it official. Then we'll find the boy and when we do I promise we will have a proper wedding, maybe with the boy as my best man! I know it's not exactly a woman's dream wedding plan, but I promise we will have one later on! I really truly promise!”

 

Jacinda smiled.

 

“I hope so.” She said. “And I love your plan. It's perfect and I love you very much Cebastion Grannos.”

 

Cebastion laughed and held his now fiancée; their hopes for the future quite bright in their minds.

 

The present

 

Jacinda was holding the ring that Cebastion had given her. Even though it had been hidden for many years it still remained it shine as the pilots stared at it.

 

“A few days later Cebastion was shipped off to L4.” She said. “But he would never come back. I would find out that it was a trap. Some officers had caught some plans he had written up and decided to take matters into their own hands. Of course once again it was under the impression it was friendly fire or ambush attack, but no it wasn't. I had found out there was no attack on L4. The officers had decided to execute him, that imprisonment was too good for a traitor of the Alliance. It was a message they wanted to send out to any officers thinking the same sort of thoughts, including me. They thought with Cebastion being gone I wouldn't even think about leaving the Alliance had I been a part of this plan. They didn't want to execute a woman who might have just been under the influence of a lover's spell.”

 

“But you didn't listen?” Heero asked. “You still left?”

 

Jacinda nodded as she looked at Duo He still didn't look up as his mind was reeling from the information Jacinda had given him about her and Cebastion's hope to find him and take care of him.

 

“In my grief, I too then developed my own secret plan for escaping the Alliance. I pretended that I fell for the trick that it was rebels that killed my lover and wanted to avenge him. I left the medical unit and honed my military skills wanting to be put back on the field. At first they shunned me from going into any battle. They didn't think even with my skills I would be a powerful asset. So, I used another tool only a woman could pull off…herself.”

 

An inaudiable gulp was heard in the room.

 

“Let me put it to you this way.” She said. “As you could see it didn't take too much for me to pull off “Michelle Fredan” when OZ came to the village right?”

 

The pilots nodded.

 

“So I used the same technique on a high ranking official and it worked. It's not something I am proud of to this day, but I had to do what I had to do in order to get out. I felt filthy sharing a bed with a man who I thought was lower than a snake, but I was able to manipulate him into letting me onto the field during a battle on L3. I of course wasn't allowed onto the field until after the battle was over with, but that worked to my advantage. I was sent to look for wounded. I took a jeep and rode out of sight of the encampment. Once I knew I was safe I got to work using materials I had when I worked in the hospital. I was able to fashion a dummy that would be in place of my own body. After placing my dog tags around it, I buried a hole in the ground and unpinned a grenade. Then I ran as fast as I could. Within moments the jeep exploded. I watched from afar when the soldiers came over. With my dog tags, and the remains that I had made to replicate what would be charred flesh and bone, it gave OZ the impression that my jeep had hit a landmine or I was ambushed by a rebel. Either way, it did the trick. I was written up as deceased in OZ's records.”

 

“Dear Allah…” Quatre whispered.

 

“What did you do to survive?” Wufei asked.

 

“I lived off the land.” She said. “I lived off of the colonies for about year until I hitched a ride back to Earth using fake ID. I was able to hack into a computer and get my inheritance, which I used sparingly while I was in hiding. It was here I met Dr. Ridge and a few refugees, one of them who taught me how to be a mid-wife. I didn't disguise my real identity. I didn't have to; all that mattered was that everyone was safe from OZ. We ended moving from time to time as battles became more and more commonplace and it was then we stumbled upon what appeared to be a very old, deserted village. We figured it had been abandoned because so many were seeking the industrialized promises of the Alliance. So we brought it back to life. I don't consider myself the so called leader of Cache Du Monde, but for some reason everyone else does. Ridge says it was because I had taken such care of the refugees and took such care of having the village reconstructed. And it was here that I became Bastian's mother…and well the rest is history.”

 

Jacinda smiled a little, but found she wasn't receiving the same from the pilots. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Finally Duo spoke up.

 

“So that's it huh?” He snorted. Jacinda lifted her head.

 

“Cebastion wanted so much to find you Duo as did I. But when he died I didn't even think I would get this far.”

 

“So what you think telling me this little love story of yours is going to make things all better!” He yelled as he stood up.

 

Jacinda shook her head.

 

“No, not at all.” She said. “But I wanted you to understand why I had kept that secret from you, from all of you and why now for some reason Duo, I had the chance to meet you and the remarkable young man you are. I can see why Cebastion took such a liking to you.”

 

“Well excuse me for not giving a damn!” He said. “As I recall he didn't do a thing to stop OZ from attacking the orphanage! He let them kill the closest thing to parents I knew!! And just because he felt some guilt over it means that everything is okay!? Well you got another thing coming lady!”

 

“Duo?” Quatre said soothingly. “He had no choice.”

 

“Yes he did!” Duo yelled and suddenly Jacinda could see the faintest sparkle of tears in the corners of his eyes. “He was just too scared and too selfish to do so!”

 

He then turned to Jacinda.

 

“And you!” He yelled. “How the hell could you lie like that!? Making us believe you were some nice nurse when in truth you were just like OZ! A liar and a coward!”

 

Jacinda frowned.

 

“Duo sweetheart.” She said trying to reach for his hand, but he pulled away quickly!

 

“No!” He said. “Don't touch me! I can't believe I fell for such a stupid act! And now you want me to pretend that because you and your boyfriend wanted to make it up to me by playing mommy and daddy that it makes things just disappear!? That Father Maxwell and Sister Helen, and the kids…their deaths just vanished because you guys decided to play hero!?”

 

“Maxwell please calm down.” Wufei urged, but it fell on deaf ears.

 

“Duo.” Jacinda said. “Cebastion and I would never want you to think that way. We would love you as much as any parents would and would want to know about Father Maxwell and Sister Helen! We would want to cherish their memory with you!”

 

“Damn you!” He screamed with the tears now flowing down his cheeks. “You could never love me like Sister Helen and Father Maxwell!! They weren't like you! They weren't a part of OZ!! They never murdered or lied to anybody! They were just a priest and a nun who wanted to take care of street trash like me!”

 

“You're not street trash, Duo.” Jacinda said. “You are far from it. You are the sweet boy Cebastion had depicted you. It's all here in this…his journal. I was able to find it before OZ raided his bunk and threw out his belongings. Read it and you'll see how special he thought you were.”

 

She handed the worn book to Duo.

 

“Shut up!” He yelled slapping it from her hand. “No more of your lies! I am fixing Deathscythe and getting the hell out of here! I never ever I want to see you or your damn village again for as long as I live! I HATE YOU!!”

 

With that Duo covered his eyes to prevent anyone from seeing more of his tears and ran quickly out of the house. Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa would be at his heels while Jacinda trying to stifle her own cries went quickly up to her room. Heero meanwhile stood alone in the living room for a moment. Spotting the journal on the floor he picked it up and put it in his deep shorts pocket. Then he too went after Duo.