Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Rynara's Cycle ❯ Chapter 1.0 ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Rynara's Cycle

Chapter I

By: Firey Angelwings

***Hey, it's nice to be back in the game (of writing GW, that is). Please note that this fic is going to be a bit darker and more intense then the patter of Hating a Phoenix. Enjoy, as we begin this…roller coaster ride.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Don't take me for such a stupid fool, as to believe that I own it. Why in hell, oh tell me why, would I be writing this if I wasn't? Use your logic, people. That's what it's there for.

*********

Three days after the official one-year anniversary of our victory over the rebels, all hell broke loose.

There was no indication of it coming to pass, nothing. Like a sudden, powerful ocean wave, it swept over all of the colonies, the planet and even the settlement of Mars, lapping directly at our feet. At my feet, in particular.

To tell you the truth, I've always had the impression that everything might eventually catch up with me, but I never really believed it. Especially after our short war with the Purifiers and Maxwell Pavey, because everything seemed to be so perfect; it was all falling directly into place.

I know that after my pampered life up until half of my teenage years, I was overdue for some freakish events. The kind of events that shake up your life forever, and when you look back on them when you're ninety, you still shudder at the thought of all your suffering. These kinds of happenings occur in all persons lives, though in different forms.

But I had already gone through those…occurrences. All the separation as a child, and then the sudden turn of identity at fifteen, being thrown into a prominent position at such a young age during a complex war where the lives of soldiers were completely worthless.

The catch was, of course, that in each of those conflicts, I always had something to fight for. Something to strive for, a goal. In most of my hardships, though I blush to think of my past immaturity, my goal was to prove myself in the eyes of a boy who never gave me a second thought.

And the reason why he made such a profound effect on my being was simply because he was the ONLY person who had never marveled at my accomplishments, or even met my glance. He was just…not caring. Of anything, to be frank.

I've had to prove myself throughout my whole life, in some way or another. Each day, it was just composing myself and showing my opponents that I was indeed a force to be reckoned with, because that was the mold that I was attempting to fit myself into. Quite simply, I was fighting my nature.

Let us say, wrestling your attitude never works.

But I'm digressing. What was my original thesis here?

Oh, yes. Three days after our celebration.

It's hard to imagine that in such a short amount of time, I've come such a long way. In body and in mind. So far from my friends, my loved ones. They don't have any idea what I have seen, felt, discovered.

But you don't understand! I must clarify, because every action has some effect, in the end of time. So I'll start from where it really began, in sorts. And that was…

Two days before the anniversary:

“What? You can't be serious.”

Jaw set and almost jutting forward in a rich painting of stubbornness, Hilde quietly reached for her cup of tea, full to the brim, and took a dainty sip. She set it down carefully before responding. “I am completely serious, Duo. And there is no need to act so amazed. What were you expecting?”

His jaw, on the other hand, was in desperate need of scooping from its current residence on the floor. Duo Maxwell composed himself and took some calculated steps towards her. “What was I expecting? I dunno…fireworks! A show! Balloons! Streamers! Hell, even a nice, small cake would have been better. We're supposed to be CELEBRATING!!!”

His girlfriend looked slightly amused, as confident with herself as a wolf with its prey cornered. As she reached over and spooned a heap of sugar into her teacup, she said, “Save it for birthdays, Duo.”

Beginning to pace in pent up frustration towards her and the entire situation, his long braid swished back and forth with his harsh, violent movements. With each step, he bit out, “We won a damn WAR. Don't we deserve some recognition? Y'know, a bit of partying? Time to…make merry? Have fun? Does it ring a bell, Hilde-baby?”

She grimaced at the syrupy-sweet pet name that Duo used when he was trying to achieve one of his goals with her. After mixing the sugar in, she placed the spoon on the fine table, regardless of the mahogany and took another sip. “Duo. Some people might not appreciate us partying in two days. It could be considered tacky, or downright disrespectful to the dead soldiers who were lost.”

Looking remarkably unlike his stoic appearance as the God of Death, Duo rolled his eyes and groaned like a child with a temper tantrum. “Hilde, who cares what people think? And it's not as if we are going to broadcast our celebration to the whole population.”

Her long, painted fingernails tapping the table, Hilde sighed and resigned as she inquired softly, “What would you have me do, Duo, oh man-who-knows-everything?”

He grinned now, as if he were a Cheshire cat and lightly kissed her lips when her eyes were closed. As he withdrew, he dictated in a mock-fancy air. “Well, call Lena. She always knows what to do.”

Standing up in an affront, Hilde countered swiftly, “No. The whole concept of us `house-sitting' is for her to stay away from the house and get some stuff done. She doesn't need us to bother her.”

His hands on her shoulders, a small amount of pressure caused her to sink back in the chair. Duo grinned triumphantly once more and answered petulantly, “Whatever. Lena said she was coming back soon. We should just…call her up and make a tactful hint.”

She shook off his hands on her shoulders and responded dryly, “Tactful? Is the word in your spelling book, Duo? And does the concept exist in you small, self-centered world?”

Looking out the window to the west, regarding the glorious sunset that was taking place, Duo smiled a bit smaller now, but replied in the same light manner. “Hell no. That's why you're here, Hilde. Haven't you figured that out already?”

***********

Acting very differently from his normal position as the `Big Brother that Cannot Be Crossed', Milliardo fidgeted in his roomy, newly upholstered armchair. Both of his hands gripped the arms of the chair with such a great force that a bit of the fine and soft fabric started to tear.

A scolding expression stole its way across Relena's face. She put her hands on her hips and stood in from of her brother, chastising him openly. “You really have to stop doing that. Strength is one thing, but you're abusing a good quality. Besides…” She turned away to pack another shirt into her open suitcase, “It's a nice chair.”

Her words did not appear to have any avail on his condition, as Milliardo looked no more relieved and just a tad more irritated. It was almost as though he was a small child who had to go to the washroom, but couldn't.

He twisted and turned incessantly for a number of minutes, as he patiently waited for his younger sister to finish packing her substantial amounts of clothes. Finally, he spat out, “Why do you have so much stuff? I don't remember you needing this much time, Lena.”

Turning halfway in his direction and then deciding against it, Relena answered as she tucked and shoved the material, “Have you not heard of shopping? Where do you think I go during my free time? To sleep?”

He clearly did not look amused, nor did he hide it. “Well then, how will you pack it in to your limited amount of suitcases? Didn't you think of that?”

Not allowing him to be so pleased with himself, Relena marched off to the closet, calling out as she went, “Actually, I did.” She disappeared into the vast space, but soon returned, this time toting a set of blue luggage bags. She tossed them in his direction and returned to her packing. “Chew on that for a while. Don't you know that I think of everything, Milliardo?”

Not appreciating her sarcasm, he remained silent, but watched her with intensity as Relena finished her packing. Milliardo didn't say anything at all until she had finished completely and breathed a great heave of relief.

Relena collapsed into the chair next to him, this one without the tears in the upholstery of the arms, and eventually appraised his profile with a critical eye. Then, she got around to asking what he was waiting for. “What's up?”

In his own typical, unhelpful way, Milliardo shrugged and replied simply, “Nothing is up. I haven't anything…up.”

Groaning, as she knew full well that that meant that something was on his mind, Relena took a deep breath and plunged right in. “Then what's wrong?”

He covered his eyes with his gloved hands and shielded himself from any light. She waited cautiously until he was ready to speak, not egging him on in any motion. When he spoke, he said, “I'm in limbo.”

Wincing, Relena chose her words carefully and said them with the perfect edge. “That's a rather wide category. Would you care to narrow it down?”

It seemed as though Milliardo didn't like the idea of expressing his `problems', but he reluctantly said, “In what sense?”

Her smooth voice came back immediately, “What was the cause behind this…limbo which-you-are-stuck-in?”

His fingers raked through his tangled hair, which was in uncharacteristic disarray. He contemplated for a few long moments. “I had this recurring dream.”

Suddenly, Relena's interest perked she sat up in her chair. She swiveled towards him and cupped her chin in her hands, demonstrating her attentiveness. “A dream of…?”

Giving her an odd glare, as if to reproach her for interrupting, Milliardo continued nonetheless. “It's always in a different setting, but the theme is still the same.”

He stopped, and after a numerous amount of seconds, Relena prodded just a bit. “And this theme is…?”

An even fiercer glare rocketed towards her. Apparently, she had broken his train of thought. Now, Relena spoke nothing at all until Milliardo finally clarified, is voice a bit shaky, “It's about proposing to Lucrezia.”

Relena's eyes widened at the idea. It wasn't a total shock to her; Milliardo and Noin were very close, for a very long time, but nonetheless…

Her eyebrows furrowed, and he watched her reaction closely. She met his gaze and held it as she inquired, “And does the idea bother you?”

An expression of surprise overtook him and he went from serious to concerned. He raised his hands as if to say `stop'. “No! No. It's a wonderful thought, and I've always held the knowledge close to my heart that soon the day would come, but I'm anxious and worried because in the dream, after she accepts, she gets hurt very badly.”

Relena opened her mouth to say something, but just as she did so, a loud beeping noise was emitted from another area of the room. She looked annoyed at the intrusion, recognizing its sound. Before she could ask, Milliardo stated easily, “Go ahead.”

Getting up quickly, Relena made her way across the vast room and sat in front of a small screen, pressing its black button on the left side. The screen illuminated brightly for a second before settling into the familiar form of…

Forms!

The ying-and-yang faces of Hilde and Duo greeted her. Their collective natural brightness of spirit lifted her own for a short respite. “Hey guys. What's up?”

Shoving Duo out of the way with one arm, Hilde grinned as she forced out an answer. “He forced me to call, Lena. Please don't blame me.”

Smiling widely, she laughed and waved off the apology. “Not to worry, Hilde. It's always great to hear from you. Why is Duo forcing you to call me?”

Hilde was about to answer when Duo fought his way out of her grip and reappeared onscreen. He playfully pushed her out of view and captured the limelight. “I'm REAL annoyed, Lena.”

Raising an elegant eyebrow, Relena looked slightly skeptical and asked to obvious question. “Why?”

Duo became more confident, and Hilde's muttering could be heard in the background as she made an insult in his direction. He regarded her from somewhere out of Relena's view, answering, “Love you too, baby.” Then he replied for real, “I just realized that we…as in our whole group of pilots and everything…”

He trailed off, and Relena egged him on, impatiently, “Yes?”

Looking up in surprise, Duo exclaimed, “We aren't celebrating in two days! There's no…festivities!”

Mildly puzzled, her eyebrows furrowed a bit and Relena paused. When she said nothing more, Duo added on, “Y'know? For the anniversary?”

Her puzzled state wasn't relieved by this statement, and she asked quietly, “Anniversary of what?”

The irritation was as plain as day on Duo's jolly face. He sighed dramatically and hung his head, wondering how his friend could be so oblivious. When he raised his eyes again, his stare was light and mocking. “How could you forget, Lena?”

She inclined her head forward, Relena waited for the axe to drop. Duo finally declared, “Anniversary of our defeat over the Purifiers! And of your good buddy Maxwell Pavey! Get with it, Lena.”

Her shoulders dropped from the sudden relief in anticipation. Relena shook her arms out and stretched lazily as she answered to this whole topic, “Uh…is that it?”

There was a scrambling scuffle on the other end, and she watched in amusement as Duo disappeared from her view once more, and Hilde took his place. Her pale face held the same half-amused, half-irritated expression as Relena's. “That's what I said, Relena. He wouldn't listen. I'm really sorry that we bothered you with this, but he just wouldn't SHUT UP and…”

Once more, Relena waved away her apologies. “Forget it, Hilde. There's no need for YOU to be sorry. But Duo,” She called out to the ex-pilot that she could not see, “What do you propose that I do about this situation of yours? What were you expecting?”

This time, Duo wasn't fought off when he attempted to enter the window of vision of her screen. He thought about her question for obviously less then a split-second and then answered, “Well…you always do the planning, so I was thinking that you could, you know…”

She finished his sentence for him with a chuckle. “Plan?”

Face lit up with evident delight, Duo nodded vigorously and agreed wholeheartedly. “Exactly. You read my mind. How do you do it, Lena?”

A sheepish smile cracking her lips, Relena scratched her head. “It's a gift, I suppose.”

He nodded again, though he looked as though his mind was in a faraway place. “So, what're you going to do?”

She grinned even more, devilishly. Stretching her hands out in front of her, Relena said, “It isn't a question of what I'm going to do, it's all about what you're going to do.”

Duo was puzzled, but Hilde was visibly cracking up in the background. “What do you mean? Should I be scared?”

Cocking her head to the side, Relena shifted in her seat. “Not scared. Just be prepared to be busy. I think that if YOU want this so much, you should be doing the grunt work.”

“Wait, wait.” Duo blocked her out with his large hands. His voice still reached her, however. “The whole reason why I take this stuff to you is because I never know what the hell to do.”

Relena said, “That's OK. So here's the plan. You contact the whole gang and tell them to hustle down to Hawaii, on Earth in the next two days for a big celebration. Look up a nice, small hotel or something on your computer and tell them all. Make reservations. Do a bit of preparation.”

He looked extremely panicked. “Hold up! Relena, you CANNOT dump all this shit on me, I'm not capable of it…”

She stood up quickly from her chair and reached towards the screen, grinning. “Call me with the details, Duo. Good luck, Hilde. Talk to you later.”

Without waiting for any response from either, she pressed the same black button and the light faded from the screen. She had cut the connection.

Relena straightened and turned back to her previous conversationalist. Milliardo had not moved a muscle, it seemed. Her eyes softened at his now-regular look of bewilderment; she was very worried about him. He had been stuck in this rut of what appeared to be depression, and he wasn't rising out of it by himself, as he normally did. Could these dreams of his be this serious?

She walked towards him, stepping over the various articles of clothing that had yet to be packed. She said softly, “Could you continue?”

Milliardo appeared to be jarred out of his train of thought. He looked more then ever like a lost little boy, and not her strong, confident brother. He shook his head slowly and stood, limbering up. “No. I'm very tired. I should go to bed. Perhaps I shall speak with you in the morning, Relena.”

She was about to protest, but then thought better of it. He looked appreciative and stepped towards her, leaving a brief peck on her forehead. He sighed as he pushed back a lock of her platinum hair, then departed swiftly from the room, before he decided against whatever he was thinking.

************