Well, with my dreaded English portfolio done and out of the way I can return to writing fic again. Anyway, I wrote it for that dreaded portfolio so I thought I’d share. This really isn’t a story per se, more like a scene. I’m just trying to get myself worked up to write one nice, long Gundam Wing fanfic over the summer so I needed to start warming up my Treize. So make sure to tell me if he’s too OOC, because I’ve never written from his perspective before. As well, this story ties in with my other one: Ashes, so if you’d like to read that first go ahead.

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I think once, jokingly, you said I had the world in my hands. There was a time when I believed the same; a time when you believed in the world I wanted to create. Back then it wasn’t too hard to think that we could accomplish it. Yet, now I think I see the truth of the matter. Yes, maybe I had the future by its reigns at one point, but fate does seem to scorn even the best-laid plans.

More unpredictable than fate though, as you well know I’m sure, is humanity. A human life is precious and beautiful because it is fleeting, because one day it will end and there will never be another quite the same. Without death to define life fighting loses all meaning. A battle that risks lives will unify people, and those that fight, subsequently confronting their own fears of death, are indeed noble. However, when the soldiers are replaced with machines what difference is there between war and a game? Cowards are those who do not risk their own lives to attain their goals, who do not have the conviction to stake the lives of others on their decisions. I honestly never expected the future to head in such a shameful direction.

Now I’ll able bring this era of chaos that I’ve created to an end.

I can see now the flaws of my own vision. Anticipating the arrival of the rebel will from outer space was one thing. We both knew that oppression of the colonies would nurture the seeds of rebellion there. But did either of us really expect it to descend to earth in the form of those five brave warriors? You would say that I was waiting for them to come, to challenge my plans and pit their own perception of righteousness against mine. I don’t think I can deny that, especially to you. Regardless, beside their purity my plans for the future tarnished and collapsed.

The path the Gundam pilots have chosen is way is one, mine yet another. In the end though, our goal is the same. That is why I have no reservations about letting their pure hearts be the ones to steer these times. Those who know only the factual outcomes of battle and not of its sorrow or its beauty can never hope to bring about the mindset that precludes peace. Those pilots understand the heart of battle, they understand what is sacrificed and what is gained by fighting. I am quite sure that, at the conclusion of this battle, they will be able to urge the future in the right direction.

My time is done.

But I’m sure you already know that. I think that we both knew from the time we brought this era into being that we would also have to be the ones to end it. There’s no future for me in this world now but to bring an end to this battle.

Did you know, over these past few months I’ve thought of you quite a bit? Nothing has really changed between us. Alliances may have changed yes, and indeed I now find you standing opposite me on the battlefield, but I know that neither of our hearts have changed.

I couldn’t keep you caged forever, that I knew from the moment you buried your face in my jacket, covered in ashes and blood. Your spirit has always been wild and reckless, defying death and those that sought to destroy you time and time again. I knew there would come a point when you would no longer stand by my side, yearning to fly on your own. At the very least, I am able to give you that.

My greatest regret is that I’m not able to do any more for you. The scars of the past that you carry, hidden deep beneath the mask you wear, are what I had hoped to heal more than anything else. I didn’t want the tragedies that you suffered as a child to chain you to sorrow and regret for the rest of your life. A world beyond your endless guilt was what I wanted to give to you, what I still wish I could give you.

Do you remember? I asked you once when you would take off that mask of yours. You spoke as if I was referring to steel that concealed your face, but we both know each other too well to hide the truth behind mere words.

I also regret believing that you and I could wait, that the future was more important than the two of us. Looking back now, those moments we spent together, carefully stolen from our respective plans, are the times I treasure the most. I would have liked to create more memories with you like those. But as I said before, the future is no longer mine to control, if it ever was at all.

Of course, I can’t know what you’re thinking at the moment, but let me assure you now that I don’t blame you for any of this. Knowing you as I do, I have the feeling that you’ll end up blaming yourself for this no matter the outcome.

You never could remain idle. This was your chance to make a difference, to do something. It doesn’t surprise me that you would take this opportunity to influence the future. And still, you managed to help me in the end.

However, I’m sure that you won’t see it the same way I do when everything is over.

Believe me though that there are no hard feelings on my part. We both did what had to be done. Now there is only one final scene to be acted out.

Back when you joked that I had the world in my hands you also said that I would die just as gloriously as the knights in the stories you used to read as a child. Back then I smiled too. It seems you were right after all.

“Milliardo, I’ll be waiting on the other side.”

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Far away, removed from the chaotic maelstrom of the battle being fought, the crimson and ebony form of the Epyon stood solitary, waiting. It went largely unnoticed against the floating debris and mobile suit battle, the one exception being the white Taurus, also standing solemnly only a few meters away. Both looked upon the battle before them, pitched between those of space and the Earth as the green and blue planet shifted ever so slowly, beyond the conflict’s grasp.

Inside the cockpit, shielded from the harsh environment of outer space, those final words crackled over the communication system, static eating the transmission alive, and then…

Then there was nothing.

The Tallgeese II’s explosion was swallowed up by its backdrop of man fighting machine, against the final sorrowful battle between Earth and the space colonies. Its remnants joined those of the other suits destroyed in battle, of circuits and metal and soulless bodies. The Gundam Altron that had dealt that final blow also remained stationary amidst the destruction. The stars paid all of them no mind as they looked on, silently delighting in their status as observers in what could be the Earth’s final moments as the four-pronged form of Libra moved slowly towards the outer reaches of Earth’s atmosphere and towards what would be an eternal winter.

But inside the Epyon there was nothing.

For a long moment only deep breaths fought the overwhelming silence. Long blonde hair cascaded forward from a slightly bowed head, masking ice-blue eyes that stared off into space, not looking at anything and yet searching for something, something that could not be found. Hands shakily grasped the controls as silence enveloped that small corner of space.

“Treize…”