Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Deceptions ❯ The Golden Light ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.. If I did, do you think I would be sitting here writing fanfics on it?

Deceptions: Part 1

The Golden Light

By Symee-Sama

Relena was tired of it. For years she had been the vice foreign minister, and she was sick of the endless responsibilities, and the debates. She had been a high-ranking government official since she was sixteen, and she hadn't been allowed to take a break since then. Whenever she planned an excursion, something would always come up. She was only twenty, but the colonies and the earth sphere still looked to her to make all there problems right. She sighed and slumped into a nearby chair. She scanned the luxurious new apartment that she had bought only a day ago. Correction. That her secretary had bought. Spacious and bright, Relena's apartment was filled with tasteful furniture and paintings. To be honest, Relena didn't care what her apartment looked like; she had let Dorothy furnish it. Her only request was that it had to have a nice comfortable bed.

She slowly pushed herself out of the chair and went into the bedroom to change her clothes. She came out again a few minutes later in her casual clothes, and threw herself into a chair in front of the TV. She flicked through the channels absentmindedly, stopping at a news report. ".vicious threats against the Vice Foreign Minister were released to the press today. Apparently the writer plans to start yet another war. Similar threats have been occurring more frequently over the last few months, but the president of the ESUN assures everyone that the Vice Foreign Minister is well- protected, and there is no way that any of these terrible threats will come to pass. In other news."

Relena turned off the TV, letting out another sigh, More threats? Hadn't they caught that crackpot yet? She wanted to laugh at the threats; no one could get through her security. It had been perfected not long after the Mariemaia incident. Right before Heero had disappeared. Again. Why did he keep running away? She tensed suddenly; there was a slight change in the air. "Jake?" She called; hoping it would be her bodyguard. "Jake is that you?"

"No," came the cold reply. Relena gasped. He was here! She jumped up, searching for the voice.

"Heero?" She scanned the apartment. Where was he? She heard something behind her, but before she could turn, a hand clamped over her mouth, and she felt cold steel on the side of her head. Relena struggled, trying desperately to free herself from her captor. She bit on his hand, and felt him stiffen, but the hand did not loosen from around her mouth. The barrel of the gun was pressed harder against her head. A quiet voice whispered in her ear.

"I'm going to let you go now," the voice said without a hint of emotion. "If you scream, I will kill you. Do you understand?" Relena nodded, and was pushed roughly against the wall. A figure dressed in black loomed over her.

"How did you get past the security system?" Relena asked tentatively. "It was supposed to be perfect." She was truly interested so she could improve her system if she escaped. No, when she escaped. "No one has beat it before." It was true. Her bodyguards enjoyed trying to beat the system, but despite their many attempts, no one had even got close to Relena.

"It wasn't that hard." There was no pride in her captor's voice. "Your cameras cycle too slowly, and it was easy to stick to the shadows and avoid being seen. And your guards left your door to get some food, a little while ago. The biggest flaws in your system are human."

"Maybe so," Relena said thoughtfully. "But you have made a fatal error. You didn't notice that I have a video camera. Right over there." She pointed. "You've been caught on tape, and there is no way you can escape." The figure turned to see what she was pointing at, and when he saw that there was no camera, he faced the wall again. But Relena wasn't there. He cursed under his breath as he sprinted after her.

Relena ran towards the door. All she needed to do was reach the door, and her guards would protect her. She heard her captor running behind her. Just a few more steps. she nearly sighed with relief as she opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway. Only to be yanked back into the room. No! Her captor held her in front of him. He used her as a shield, as her bodyguards took aim, and placed his gun against her head.

"Throw down your weapons," he ordered them and tightened his hold around her. They complied swiftly, destroying Relena's hope of rescue. The gun moved away from her head, and two shots rang out. The guards slumped to the floor, lifeless eyes staring accusingly at Relena.

"No!" Relena yelled, and broke away from her captor. She didn't care if he killed her, she barely even registered him in her mind. All she could think about was the two dead guards. They had been her friends. Tears streamed down her face, and she reached out with trembling fingers and closed their eyes. Relena stood up, and faced her captor. "I hate you!"

A fist slammed into her face, and she fell, reaching for something, anything, to keep her from falling. Her fingers grasped cloth, and she heard a rip as she fell. She had pulled off his mask. Relena groaned as she hit the hard floor, and gazed up at her attacker. Hard cobalt blue eyes stared back at her. "I thought you didn't hate anybody, Relena." Her attacker mocked as he pulled her up.

"Heero," her voice trembled a little. "Why?"

"A promise made long ago," came the gruff reply as Heero dragged an unresisting Relena, onto the balcony. "Hold on," he ordered as he picked her up, and jumped off the balcony. Relena screamed as they fell, and held Heero tightly. He groaned when they landed, nearly dropping her. It had been a hard impact. Limping slightly, he dragged Relena across the street, and forced her to get into the car. As they pulled away from the curb, Relena began to fully comprehend what Heero had said earlier.

"A promise made long ago?" Relena shivered. She never thought this day would come. "You're going to kill me."

Heero smirked. "No, but you'll wish I had in the end."

* * * * *

Relena woke up in a dingy cell. She heard guards laughing outside, laughing at her. The former Queen of the World at the mercy of the lowest guard. She shuddered, remembering how they had tried to rape her last night. Heero had stopped them before they had gotten too far. He confused her. He kidnapped her, took her to the slums of L1, and watched as the guards beat her, but wouldn't let them do something that would shame her more than anything else in the world? She didn't get it.

The cell door opened, and Relena backed away from Heero as he entered. The door closed behind him, and he stood there, watching her with a small smirk on his face. Relena pushed herself into the farthest corner of the room, and gathered her courage. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Yuy?" She asked coldly when she could finally speak. If the formality stung, he didn't show it.

"I've come to take you away." He stated blandly, and gestured towards the door. "This way Relena."

"You've come to take me away?" Relena laughed. "What is this Heero? Kidnap me, and then rescue me again? It makes no sense."

"I never said anything about rescue. You've been sold." Relena shook her head. She still didn't understand. "In the slums, you can sell almost anything. Including labour. You've been sold to a wealthy family on Earth."

"So that's why you stopped them from raping me last night," Relena said dully. "You wanted to save me for whoever I got sold to."

Heero felt a small pang of sympathy for her. She was right of course, she had always been able to understand whatever he was doing. But why was he doing this? He searched for the answer, but it didn't come. What was he doing? His hands trembled at his sides, and there was a sharp pain in his head. Where were they? What had he done to hurt her? He cried out and slumped to the floor. He held his head in his hands. What the hell was he doing?

"Heero?" Relena reached for him, but he swatted her away. "Heero, are you okay?" Even after what he had done. Even after his harsh treatment of her, she could still forgive him. She always had been strong. "Talk to me Heero."

He had hurt her, he had hit her. He had just sold her to be a slave in a wealthy family. What was wrong with him? If he had a grudge against her, he should have just killed her. Anything would be better than being a slave. "Omae o korusu."

"Go ahead." Relena said calmly. "Please. Heero, go through with it this time." He flinched at the sadness in her voice. She really wanted to end it. He looked at her, and was scared by the desperation in her eyes. He looked at his trembling hands, what had he done?

"I didn't mean for this to happen," his voice was shaky, as he reached out to grab her shoulders. "I never would have done this to you. I don't know why I did." Her eyes hardened, and she moved out of his grasp, and raised her hand. He felt a burning sensation on his face. She had slapped him.

"I find that very hard to believe Heero," her hand was trembling. "You're the one who brought me here, you're the one who sold me, and now you expect me to believe that you didn't want this to happen?" Her eyes brimmed with tears that she wouldn't allow to fall. "I don't believe you didn't want this to happen. Just tell me why. Why did you do this to me Heero?"

"You deserve punishment," he managed to say. His head was throbbing again. He had trouble focusing on what had to be said. He ignored the pain in his head, and looked at Relena. He saw tears streaming down her cheeks. He wiped them away with his thumb, and pulled her into his lap, listening to her sob against his shoulder. "Please don't cry."

"Why do I deserve this?" Relena asked through the tears. "What did I do Heero?"

"I-I don't know," he said in shock. What had she done? It evaded him. She looked up at him in surprise. "I don't know what you did, but I know that you must be punished."

"How can you not know?" Relena thought back on all the things she had done lately. "I don't think that I've done anything wrong."

Heero frowned, and tried with all his might to think of why he had done this. Tried to think of what he had done lately, but he couldn't remember. There were holes in his memory, bright flashes of yellow light, which overwhelmed him if he tried to think too far back. //A good soldier does not dwell on memories.// A voice came through his head. What the hell was that?

"I can't remember," Heero muttered to himself. "Holes in my memory. bright light.that voice.Zero!" He pushed her off his lap, and moved to a corner of the cell and huddled there. "Stay away from me! Zero's back!"

"I don't understand," Relena said slowly, and tried to move towards him. He pushed her back. "Why should I stay away? Heero you're not making sense! First, you told me that I've been sold, and then you tell me that you don't want me to be sold. You say I deserve punishment, but you don't know why! Talk to me Heero! Tell me what is going on!" What confused Relena the most was that Heero was showing his emotions. They were there in his eyes, coming through in his voice, even in his facial expressions. This was a totally different Heero, from the one she knew. He would have never shown his emotions like this, he was acting normal when he entered her cell, but then he changed. "Please tell me what is going on."

"I can't!" Heero pulled his legs towards him, and buried his face in his knees. "Cause I don't remember!" He thought back on the bright flashes of light. The scientists had told him that they were nothing. That they were the after-effects of the Zero system, and that because he had used the system so much, that he would have them for the rest of his life. They had told him that the images weren't real, and that he should ignore them. And now, for the first time, he tried to remember them.

The bright flashes hurt his head, but he ignored the pain. He'd had much worse during the war. Images and scenes, came back to him, and he sat passively, replaying them in his head. He killed often in these scenes, men, women, children, he killed them all. He'd destroyed an air manufacturing plants on a colony, and had laughed as they suffocated. He had killed hundreds in the last two years, but the memories kept coming. Showing more deaths, more violence. Some of them pleaded for their lives, others stayed silent, their eyes silently asking why he was doing this. Why had he done this?

He saw himself in Relena's apartment, threatening her, hurting her. He saw himself shooting the two guards. Heard her scream at him, "I hate you!" Felt his fist slam into her face. "Heero," He heard her voice tremble a bit. "Why?" He saw her crying, as some guards beat her, saw himself looking on impassively as they hurt the woman that he loved. He saw them attempting to rape her, and him stopping them, only because he didn't want the guards to get in trouble. He hadn't cared what happened to her at all. He saw himself as he entered the cell this morning, and saw him smile when she backed away. He'd been happy when she was afraid of him! "To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Yuy?"

"Heero?" He snapped out of his reverie. Relena peered at him concern in her eyes. "Heero, what's wrong?" She reached out to touch his face, but he flinched away. What had he done? She reached again, and put her hand on his cheek. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"I hurt you," he said quietly. "I promised to protect you, and I hurt you. I didn't want to kill. I killed Mariemaia, and she was supposed to be the last one." He broke off unable to go on.

"Heero." Relena said quietly, and he looked into her eyes, taking strength from them, from her. "You don't have to go on." She didn't care about anything right now, she didn't care that he had kidnapped her, and that he had hurt her. All she knew was that he was hurting, and when he hurt, it tore her up inside. "It's okay, you probably have a good reason for everything you've done to me."

"I don't," he grabbed her wrist, and pulled her hand away from his face. "I don't have a reason for any of the things I've done. I've killed hundreds. Not just men, but women and children too! I laughed at them when they begged for their lives, laughed when they cried because I had killed their children."

Relena's eyes widened in shock. "This isn't true." Her eyes pleaded with his, wanting desperately for him to say that it wasn't, that it was just another game. "You said you didn't want to kill anymore! Please tell me this isn't true." She didn't realise that she was backing away from him until her back hit the wall of her cell. He looked up at her, and she knew that he hadn't been lying. He had killed all those people.

"Tell me Relena," Heero's voice was full of guilt. "Did I scare you when I came into the cell?"

"Yes," she admitted. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I enjoyed it," Heero shuddered. "I was glad that you were scared of me. I thought.I thought that it was about time that you showed some fear." Relena closed her eyes, hugging herself. As if doing so would block out what he was saying, stop the hurtful words from coming out of his mouth. "I thrived on the fear, all of it. I. I was the one who destroyed the air manufacturing plant on that colony. I can't even remember its name."

Relena's mouth dropped. "You did that?" she looked at the floor. "You were behind the massacre at L3?" He nodded. "Heero. I can't forgive you for that. I could forgive you for hurting me, but killing an entire colony. there was over three thousand people living there! Why would you do all this?"

"I don't know!" Heero lifted her chin, and looked into her eyes. "I wouldn't do something like that! I would never hurt anyone after Mariemaia was shot. I couldn't bear to!"

"You hurt me."

"That wasn't me that hurt you." He said, stating the impossible, and expecting her to believe him without question. "I'll say I'm sorry if you want, but it wasn't me. I swear it."

"I think I'd know if it was you, Heero Yuy. I was there, remember?" Her eyes hardened. "It was you, and saying that you're sorry won't change what you did."

"It wasn't me." Heero persisted, he reached out a hand to her, but she didn't take it.. "All those things. the murders, your kidnapping. I never wanted to do them! Something's happening to me. I don't understand." He let his hand drop. "I don't understand. I don't even know why I brought you here, you didn't do anything."

//But she did.// Yellow light seemed to fill the room, and surround him. //Let me show you. Let me show you what she did.// Heero nodded, and the cell disappeared, and becoming a public square, filled with people. A firing squad stood in front of a platform with a young boy tied to a post on it. Purple eyes, brown hair, cut raggedly. He used to have a braid, but it had been cut off when they caught him. "Duo!" Heero screamed, but the no one paid any attention to him. //You can't change a memory, just sit back and watch.// "But it's an execution!" Heero yelled. "Duo's going to die!" //Yes. You can't change that, but you can get revenge. Look for her.//

Heero scanned the crowd desperately for Relena. She could put a stop to this. He cried out when he spotted her, and ran to her side. "Relena," he said desperately. "You gotta help me stop them." But Relena ignored him. She walked onto the platform and strode towards a soldier. Heero followed, invisible to both of them.

"Make it painful," she whispered to him, and smiled as he changed the orders to his soldiers. She turned to address the crowd. "People of the Sanc Kingdom! This man was a gundam pilot in the war. He killed thousands of people. How many of you lost family and friends to the gundams?" The replies were deafening. Heero covered his ears with his hands. Anything to shut out that horrible crowd.

"This one," Relena pointed at Duo. "Called himself 'Shinigami', the God of Death. He enjoyed the killing, enjoyed murdering, and fighting."

"That's not true!" Duo yelled at Relena. "I didn't have any choice. Most of the people I killed were trying to kill me, but I remember every single person I killed! Every single one!"

"Liar!" Relena accused him, and the crowd roared in approval. "You didn't have to kill, but you did because you enjoyed it. Don't lie to us Duo. There's no point in lying now."

"I didn't lie," Duo countered. "I'm Duo Maxwell, and I may run, and I may hide, but I never tell a lie!"

"I've had enough of this. Fire!" Relena yelled. Seven shots were heard, and Duo jerked as the bullets entered his body. They all landed in different places, prolonging the death. Heero waited for someone to shoot Duo in the heart, and end his pain, but no one came. The crowd was deafening as they all watched him slowly bleed to death. Duo gasped with pain, and would have collapsed if he hadn't been tied in place.

"No!" Heero screamed, and his mind was filled with a golden haze. "Why Relena?" He sank to his knees., and watched helplessly as his best friend bled for the cheering crowd. The minutes passed, and everyone seemed like an eternity to Heero. "Why?" He asked again as Duo gasped, and spasmed. His head fell to his chest, and he died, still standing because he was tied to the post, his violet eyes lifeless. "DUO!"

//Do you see? Do you see why she needs to be punished?// Heero nodded. "But not by being sold. I'll kill her, but I won't sell her." //But that's what she wants you to do.// "What?"

The world disappeared, and he saw himself in her cell. His hands trembling. "Omae o korosu" And her calm acceptance of what he had just said. "Go ahead." He heard Relena say. "Please. Heero, go through with it this time."

//You see? She wants to die. So how can you punish her?//

"I don't know," Heero said dully. "I don't want to punish her. I don't want to hurt her."

//Why?//

"I love her."

//You can't love, you aren't capable of loving anyone. You're the Perfect Soldier, and you're not allowed to love.//

"I don't want to be!" Heero screamed. "I want the right to live like a human! I don't want to be the 'Perfect Soldier' anymore!" He continued on in a quieter voice. "I went away. I followed my emotions, and I learned how to be a human. I learned how to feel. I don't want to be the Perfect Soldier."

//You don't have to be. Just one more mission, and it will be over. One more mission, and you can live a normal and happy life.//

"Only one," Heero was shocked. "Is that a promise?"

//Would I lie?//

Heero closed his eyes. "Please Zero, guide me." And as he surrendered to the golden light, the smooth reassuring voice began to laugh.

Author's Note: Okay. This is my first fanfic, but I'm not going to ask you to go easy on me. Actually I want you to say anything that will help me to improve my story. Please Review. Thanx!