By Deathswings
They blazed a trail I dared to run.
They built this world and I have come.
I need another, like a brother,
For a crying shoulder.
Treize sat at his massive desk, staring out the window at
the grounds of the mansion, far below him.
All of his plans were going exactly how he had always wanted them to,
and yet nothing was going right at all.
He was losing, and he knew it.
And soon, very soon, he would lose Zechs.
That Zechs would side with the colonies was no surprise to
Treize. He knew that the young
officer’s time in OZ was merely to facilitate his revenge on those who had
destroyed his home. With that mission
completed, there was no longer any reason for Zechs to remain with OZ,
especially now that control was being so easily handled by Romafeller… which
even Treize himself had not been happy about.
With Duke Dermail dead, however, he was beginning to sense a change in
the weather… and the change was not good.
He was headed towards an inevitable end. And the end was beginning to look like his death. He was not afraid of death, however, there
was one thing he had to do before he went.
Treize leaned over and switched on his communication unit,
typing in a number that was very familiar to him.
Zechs sighed and moved automatically to read the
message. Being the leader of a warring
body of people was somewhat taxing, and he’d just laid down and was looking
forward to a good night’s rest when the unit had beeped. Cursing in several different languages,
Zechs opened the message… and his heart suddenly thudded once very hard in his
chest. Treize! The message was from Treize!
Milliard,
I know you are terribly busy right now, but I would
sincerely appreciate it if you would visit me soon. As old friends, not as enemies.
There is something I wish to discuss with you about the end of the war,
and it is far too delicate a matter to talk about over open and interceptable
communications channels.
Fondly,
Treize.
Zechs’ eyes widened.
Treize was requesting his presence on Earth? Zechs was torn… Treize had been his closest friend for as long as
he could remember. But there was much
to do here, and Treize was also the enemy.
Or rather, Treize was with the enemy.
Even now, Zechs had a hard time thinking of Treize as anything other
than a comrade. They had been through
so much together. Smiling, Zechs made
his decision quickly and wrote a brief letter to Trieze.
And this could be the last time
You will stand by my side.
Well, I can feel my soul; it’s bleeding,
Will you fly with me this evening?
A week later, they stood staring at each other from across a
private airfield. Both had slipped
their aides and their people to come here and meet in absolute privacy.
“Hello Treize.”
“Hello Zechs. It’s
been awhile, hasn’t it?”
“Only a few weeks, really, but it seems like an eternity,
doesn’t it?”
“That it does, my friend, that it does.”
“What did you want to speak to me about?”
”My will.” Zechs’
eyes couldn’t have gotten larger,
“Your will? Treize,
you’re not planning on dying, are you?”
“Actually, Milliard, I am.
I very much doubt I will last out the war, even if it should end
tomorrow. I am too dangerous a man to
be allowed to live- on either side. And
I’d prefer to go out in a blaze of glory than to die from an assassin’s
bullet.”
“Treize…” there was a sneaking suspicion in the back of
Zechs’ head, “You didn’t bring me here to kill you, did you?”
“I don’t know why I brought you here,” Treize sounded
totally defeated, “But there’s someone you need to know about… Her name is
Marymaia… If anything happens to me… try to find her and make sure she doesn’t
repeat my same mistakes. Try to keep
her out of the limelight.”
“Why? I mean, why
tell me all this? Isn’t Lady Une a much
better person to tell about some woman in your life?”
“She already knows, but she’s very ambitious. And Marymaia isn’t just some woman… she’s my
daughter.” Hmmm, so Zechs’ eyes could
get bigger,
“Your… DAUGHTER?”
“Yes. Please,
Milliard, don’t lecture me on the possible consequences of that action. I don’t need it from you. Just promise me you’ll protect her… I’m
willing the Krushrenada estate to you, unless someone with my blood comes
forward to claim it. Hopefully, she
will eventually. But try to keep her
out of politics, Zechs. She doesn’t
want this life.” Zechs didn’t ask him
why he didn’t just stop, if he didn’t like his way of life. Zechs knew.
It was the same reason why he himself didn’t just go live in seclusion
after the rise of OZ. Someone had to do
what they were both doing, and both knew that they were the only ones who
would. Zechs nodded,
“If you die, I will honor your wishes, I promise. I don’t know what I can do about the young
lady’s political career, but I will do my best to look after her however I can…
Of course, we are presuming that I also survive the war.”
It broke Treize’s heart just a little to hear his former
Lieutenant all but say that he too had given up hope. Zechs was so young, and had so much promise. But this war had taken a lot out of all of
them, the younger they were, the more they placed at stake, or so it seemed. It was a children’s war. And Treize was not much more than a child
himself.
“Zechs… Earlier you wondered if I had brought you here to
kill me. That was not my original
intent, no… But… Why don’t we end it
now, Zechs? This is a pointless war, in
the end all that matters is that both of us die, right? That is your plan, isn’t it? To have that boy kill you? Why not like this? Just square off, once and for all, and end all of it. It’s dying in battle, Zechs. It’s what we were born to do.”
Zechs just stood there a moment, head bowed, face
serious. Finally, he raised his head,
“Treize… I have the Epyon; you wouldn’t even stand a chance
once I got in the cockpit. That’s not a
fair fight, that’s suicide, and I will not help you commit suicide.”
“Then fight in a normal mobile suit. I know you can do almost as much with a Leo
as with a Gundam.”
Zechs saw something in his former superior’s eyes and turned
away.
“Yes. Yes, let’s
go.”
Sober mind time now is gone.
They carved my body not of stone.
A petty maze of emptiness,
I’ve said the hell with all the rest.
Treize clicked his seat restraint buckle shut and relaxed
back against the seat, shutting his eyes for a moment. He was doing this. Here it was. And he knew
he was going to lose. He was facing his
death. But damned if he was going to go
down without a fight. The only reason
he knew he would lose was because he knew he couldn’t bring himself to kill
Zechs, and Zechs would have no compunctions the other way around. He’d seen it in the blonde young man’s
eyes.
He powered up the engine and prepared to fight. Both of them had chosen the Aries, much to
Treize’s surprise. Zechs had said he’d
gotten used to actually flying his suit, and he’d prefer one that did the
same. On his view screen, Treize saw
Zechs also power up and lift into the air.
And then Zechs was rushing towards him.
It was a test attack.
Zechs didn’t come in too fast, so he could dart away. Treize fired anyway, just to keep the young
pilot on his toes. Then, much to his
surprise, Zechs darted away!
With a puzzled growl, Treize began pursuit of the mobile
suit. Why would Zechs just take off
like that?
“Running away, Zechs?”
“No. Just making you
chase me. Are you a good enough pilot
to catch me?”
Treize’s brow furrowed slightly. Was Zechs making fun of him?
He gunned on his engine and sped after the former Lieutenant.
And this could be the last time
You will stand by my side.
Well, I can feel my soul; it’s bleeding,
Will you fly with me this evening?
The chase was fast and over just as quickly. They were soon neck and neck, the terrain
flying underneath them as they switched positions several times, firing on each
other. And then, Zechs ducked under him and rammed up, throwing the older man
into a tailspin. Treize managed to pull
out of the spin, but he could see the tree line was quickly approaching. He had two options- pull up and risk having
the engines stall, making him a sitting duck, or slam right into the trees,
possibly dying in the crash.
He pulled up.
His engine locked up from the strain, holding him floating
serenely in midair.
“Do it Zechs… you’ll never get a better shot, and you earned
this.”
There was a tremendous silence on the other end of the
communicator.
“No. Restart your
burners. I’m not going to shoot you
like that. I’m not going to shoot you
at all. You can’t die like this
Treize.”
“Millard… Don’t pity me.”
“I’m not pitying you.
You invited me here as a friend.
And that’s how I intend to leave.”
“Millard…”
“Come on. Restart your
burners. Let’s get moving!”
“Moving?”
“Yes. I propose a
different kind of contest…”
Treize restarted the burners and moved to hover beside
Zechs,
“What kind of contest?”
“See those trees over there?”
“Yes.”
“Race you to them.
Anything goes.”
Treize suddenly found himself smiling,
“You’re on.”
The race was neck and neck the whole way to the trees. Treize rammed the back of Zechs’ suit,
hoping to throw him into a familiar tailspin, but instead only succeeded in
making him go faster. Treize gunned his
engine into speeds that the mobile suit was not designed for and strove to
catch up. The whole suit shook from
this action, but Treize held on and gunned it even more. It was then that he realized he was still
grinning like an idiot, and a strange urge to whoop like a little kid was
building in his chest. He let it loose,
laughing and yelling all the way to the trees.
When they made it back to the base, Treize was still
laughing, wonderfully exhilarated.
“This… this is great!
Zechs… how did you know?”
“I fly too, you know.
I know what it feels like to just let loose. And you never get a chance to do that anymore,” Zechs moved
towards the Epyon, “I have to go. I’ve
been gone too long already. And I
suppose, the next time we meet, we’ll be enemies.”
“Yes… I suppose so.” Something in Treize made him call out,
“Zechs?” Zechs turned,
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Zechs grinned,
“You’re welcome Treize.
You’re welcome.”
And this could be the last time
You will stand by my side.
Well, I can feel my soul; it’s bleeding,
Will you fly with me this evening?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Send
all comments to Lucretia@jenovaproject.com
. All inconsiderate flames will be used
to heat instant ramen. The song is “By
My Side” by 3 Doors Down. Trieze and
Zechs belong to whoever owns Gundam Wing and are used without permission.