Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Tool Songfic Series ❯ Lateralus ( Chapter 2 )

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

Title: Lateralus
Author: Kendra
Pairings: a little R+1, 6x9, 4xD
Rating: R
Warnings: Heavy angst, amnesia, some violence.
Disclaimer: I don't own GW or this song. I don't even technically own my initiation pin!
Notes: Sequel to Schism. This is going to be a long songfic. I've decided to make this a Tool songfic series: Schism, Lateralus, H.

Lateralus by Tool

//Black then white are
All I see
In my infancy
Red and yellow then came to be
Reaching out to me
Lets me see//

The room was dark even though it was daytime. There was only one occupant of the room, a woman with honey-blond hair in a long braid down her back with wide, blank blue eyes. The room was painted white with yellow stripes. The furniture was cream-colored and consisted only of a bed, a desk, and a chair all bolted down to the floor. The only objects of entertainment were a radio and a drawing pad.

However, none of that mattered to the occupant. She was in her own world, a world that no one else could enter. Everyone believed that she completely lost her memory, that everything had turned her insane. They whispered about her, how she was the salvation of the world but now had become a mute, twisted by a horrible accident. The doctors kept her medicated, they said, to protect herself for when she first came there she hurled things around in a rage and tried to kill herself. Despite all of that, unbeknownst to them, she was starting to remember...

//As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
Drawn beyond the lines of reason
Push the envelope
Watch it bend//

*Flashback*

The clink of champagne glasses filled the air as everyone in the room celebrated Relena Dorlian's latest victory. With an overwhelming majority in Congress, the Foreign Minister to the Colonies finally got approval to build a new colony to ease the amount of overcrowding on the original five colonies. It was a decisive victory for the inhabitants of the colonies who were lobbying for this for five years. Many predicted that this would propel Relena to the ESUN presidency.

None of this really mattered to Relena. She had her husband, Heero Yuy, her brother, Zechs Merquise, all of her close friends; Quatre Winner, Lucreztia Noin-Merquise, Lady Une, Sally Chang, Dorothy Winner, Duo Maxwell, Hilde Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Wufei Chang in her corner. She did not necessarily lust for power, she wanted to do what was right but becoming president was not very important to her. Relena smiled as Zechs made another toast. She was pregnant; all that mattered right now was the child growing inside of her.

*End Flashback*

//Overthinking
Overanalyzing
Separates the body from the mind
Withering my intuition
Missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel thy moment
Drawing way outside the lines//

In thirty minutes, all of that changed. Assassins had managed to breach security despite Heero and the Preventers constant monitoring. Shooting rang out in the room as assassins managed to shoot and kill Lady Une as well as injure Quatre Winner. A bullet grazed Relena in the forehead while one entered her right arm and her lower abdomen.

Heero and the rest of the pilots managed to kill the intruders but the damaged was done. Relena lost her baby and her Heero was blamed for the whole fiasco. After she found out that she lost her child and her husband was going to be put on trial for the shootings, Relena lost it.
After leaving the hospital long before she was supposed to leave to go and see Heero, Relena got into a car accident which almost killed her. Four years later, she was in a genteel sanitarium, without her memory and almost her life.

//Black then white are
All I see
In my infancy
Red and yellow then came to be
Reaching out to me
Lets me see//

The man peered into the room, his long white-blond hair flowing down his back. He was still a very handsome man but his eyes were the eyes of a man who has seen too much evil and hardship in his life. He turned to the woman at his left. She had black hair, blue eyes, and a gentle manner. The man said, "I absolutely hate this Noin, I hate coming here and seeing her like this. I just wish there was a way to get her out of this state."

Noin said, "I know how you feel Zechs but the doctors say that she'll return to normal when she feels like it," rubbing his back. Zechs sighed; he was impatient with the doctors. They said that the amnesia shouldn't have lasted this long and that she should progress out of this mute state but they had no idea how to get her out of it. He loved his little sister, he wanted her to become the old Relena they all knew and loved. The world wanted her to come back to reprise her old role but Zechs vowed that Relena would no longer be a politician if she became normal again.

//There is
So much
More and
Beckons me
To look through to these
Infinite possibilities//

Noin studied Zechs as he started to pace. She thought, 'He still blames himself for everything, for having Heero arrested and for Relena's car accident.' Noin herself had a hard time forgiving Zechs for using Relena's accident as a way to make Heero pay for a grudge that should have died in AC 195, ten years ago. She loved Zechs but she hated the vindictiveness that destroyed Relena and almost destroyed their marriage. It was hard, but she managed to find a way to forgive Zechs as he struggled to keep the fragile peace alive. She knew Zechs was repentant for all that happened but Zechs still resisted doing what could be the answer. Noin whispered, "You can call Heero."

Zechs furiously turned around. He exclaimed, "Call Heero after he told me to go to hell? After he almost killed me? Anyway, I have no idea where he is at all."

Noin frowned then stated, "You put him through a year of hell for something that he did not cause. He was already depressed because he failed at his mission to protect Relena at all costs and everything else made it worse. You're lucky he didn't kill you."

Zechs raked a hand through his hair before admitting, "You're right, I was an asshole. But all of the evidence pointed to him, even though the conspiracy came from Janeen Winner-Chilton. I should have known better than to go after Heero but I let the pressure from the government, the media, everyone to find a quick answer get to me."

Noin hugged Zechs, resting her chin on his chest. She then said, "I still don't understand how a sister could arrange to have her brother killed. I know Dorothy enjoyed watching her die for her crime."

Zechs sighed, his breath ruffling her hair a little bit. Then he stated, "I wish I could take the past away."

//As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
Drawn outside the lines of reason
Push the envelope
Watch it bend//

It was a new day but the room was as dark as it was everyday. She preferred the dark, she felt like she was living in the dark. She lay on the floor, her eyes staring at the ceiling. She did not understand why all these people kept visiting her. She did not know who they are or what they wanted and why they kept calling her Relena. But she did not even know her own name. The only name she knew was Heero but she knew it wasn't hers. It was a man's name, a man who had dark blue eyes and dark brown hair that she kept seeing in her mind.

She was now seeing a lot of different things, a girl who looked like her, doing something like dancing with Heero. She saw guns, violence, a huge robotic thing that she guessed was one of those gundam things that she always heard them talk about. All she wanted to do however was to stay in her mind where there was that man called Heero and beautiful things around. She did not want to come back to this world, this strange world where all of these people where from, where people had needles to put weird things into her body that made her sleep all of the time.

//Overthinking
Overanalyzing
Separates the body from the mind
Withering my intuition
Leaving opportunities behind//

Dorothy stepped into the room, Sally and Wufei Chang with her. The years had not been completely kind to the wife of Quatre Raberba Winner but she had a peace that she never thought she would have when she was younger. She was still the brittle woman she had been when she was younger, the war-mad niece of Duke Dermail but today she was the cherished wife of Quatre, the only man who truly completely understood her. Her mind drifted as she thought of her twins at home and she smiled before she remembered why she was here today. Janeen Winner-Chilton had wished to get rid of Quatre Winner so she could take over the resulting power vacuum in the colonies. She managed to not kill Quatre but the death of Lady Une and the unintended injury and incapacitation of Relena and the discovery of her crime had earned Janeen Winner-Chilton death.

Today, she was visiting Relena, something that she did not do much because it hurt so much to see Relena like this. After the end of Mariemaia's rebellion, Dorothy found herself persona non grata because her former membership in the failed White Fang and because of her connections to the Romefeller Foundation. Relena Dorlian befriended her, a move that was unpopular but for the lonely Dorothy, that friendship helped her through a hard time and even though today on the outside she seemed to have the perfect life, Dorothy was willing to do anything to have the old Relena back.

//Feed my will to feel this moment
Urging me to cross the line
Reaching out to embrace the random
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come//

Dorothy reached into her bag as Sally and Wufei stood guard at the door. The sanitarium insisted that guests should not bring outside materials, but Dorothy hid this item. She was sure that if Relena saw it, she may not become fully healed but it would help. She knelt down next to Relena, smoothing her skirt around her so no one could see anything they shouldn't see. Dorothy said, "I have a gift for you."

The girl on the floor shifted. Her eyes stayed focused on the ceiling but something told Dorothy that she was interested. She reached into her bag and took out a picture. Dorothy said, "This is you and Heero, at your wedding."

The girl on the floor sat up, her eyes focusing when Dorothy said Heero's name. She reached for the picture that Dorothy gave her. Dorothy fought the feelings of excitement, it was a minor miracle that Relena responded but she did not want to overwhelm her.

/I embrace my
Desire to
I embrace my
Desire to
Feel the rhythm, to
Feel connected//

The girl held the picture, her free hand tracing the couple in the picture. She turned to Dorothy and whispered, "Heero."

Dorothy nodded, and the girl said, "I don't understand."

The girl handed the picture back to Dorothy and hugged her knees. Dorothy paused but before she could say anything, the girl said, "I see him. He likes to dance with me."

Dorothy blinked, she thought that Relena could not remember anything but know she wasn't too sure. Dorothy said, "Do you remember him?"

A dreamy smile came on the girl’s face that made her look like the woman she was before. The girl giggled and said, "I remember dancing with him but I don't remember anything else." She then stared at Dorothy and then she said, "I want to remember but I can't."

The girl got up and started to pace before screaming, "I WANT TO REMEMBER!!!!" Dorothy motioned to Wufei and Sally to keep the guards out as footfalls could be heard in the hallway. Dorothy then said, "I want to help you remember."

With an understanding look on her face, the girl calmed down as Wufei and Sally argued with the guards and the doctors at the door. Dorothy said, "I'll take care of everything."

The girl whispered, "Thank you."

But as Dorothy went to leave, the girl asked, "May I keep that picture?" Dorothy started, and then she answered, "Sure," as she put the picture on the desk. As Dorothy left, the girl blinked as the name Relena started to float in her mind.

//Enough to step aside and
Weep like a widow, to
Feel inspired, to
Fathom the power, to
Witness the beauty, to
Bathe in the fountain, to
Swing on the spiral, to
Swing on the spiral, to
Swing on the spiral of
Our divinity and
Still be a human//

Dorothy walked out of the room and waited for Sally and Wufei to leave. As the sanitarium guard closed the door, Dorothy started to stalk down the hall, looking for a quiet alcove. At the end of the hall, Dorothy angrily said, "Relena is not as bad as they say she is."

Sally and Wufei looked at each other before Sally said, "The records say that she is unable to take care of herself-."

Dorothy cut Sally off, whirling around to face Sally. Dorothy pointed out her finger and said, "Relena remembers Heero."

Sally swallowed before replying, "That has not been put in the records, none of the doctors have told me that." Wufei frowned before saying, "Maybe they have found it easier to treat Relena as if she's a complete vegetable than trying to help her."

Dorothy ran off to the main office, punching in numbers into her cell phone. Calling Zechs, Dorothy said, "Your sister is not as crazy as they say she is. Come here immediately."

While in the room, the girl started to say to herself as she looked at the picture, "I-I must be Relena."

With tears starting to trail down her face, she started to see more memories in her mind.

//With my feet upon the ground
I lose myself between the sounds
And open wide to suck it in
I feel it move across my skin
I'm reaching up and reaching out
I'm reaching for the random, for
Whatever will bewilder me
Whatever will bewilder me//

The doctors were surprised, in a span of a year, Relena was rapidly improving. They could not explain it but it seemed like something was propelling Relena to live again. Dorothy told Zechs what she had done, how she went behind the doctors' backs to give Relena that picture. After finding out how the doctors at the sanitarium where doping Relena to keep her under control, Zechs took her out of the sanitarium and took her home where she could be with her family and under the care of more compassionate doctors hand-picked by Sally Chang.

In familiar surroundings, Relena began to slowly regain her memory with Zechs, Noin, and their children all around her. The other pilots came in to visit Relena and answered all of her questions of what had happened during the past four years. The only question they could not answer was what happened to Heero. After Janeen Winner-Chilton was found out, Heero had disappeared into the sunset and only Duo knew where he was located. Duo, out of loyalty to Heero, refused to tell them where Heero was to Zechs' frustration. The press was kept away from the Peacecraft Mansion and Zechs made sure that everyone knew that Relena would not be getting involved in politics ever again.

//And following our will and wind
We may just go where no one's been
We'll ride the spiral to the end
May just go where no one's been
Spiral out
Keep going
Spiral out//

Today, Relena sat on her bed, dressed in a new pink and white argyle sweater and khaki slacks. Her hair was free on her shoulders and her fragile beauty was on show. It was a sunny day outside; spring was in full-fling. However, Relena was determined; it had been two years since that day when Dorothy showed her that picture and Relena was sure that she was ready for what she needed to do. As Duo opened the door, Relena said, "Duo, take me to see Heero."