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"The Rovers"Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, Romance, Adventure Pairings: ? Summary: The characters from Gundam Wing find love amid the perils of war, oh… and they save the world while they're at it. The story is set in an alternative universe on earth. Part One is told from Heero's point of view. We meet the roving people with a hidden agenda, and the men hunting them. In Part Two, things go wild and…well, let's just get through these first four chapters of Part One and see how it goes. Thanks to Waterlily for reading and offering her
advice not just once but twice—and when you get through part
two you see just how long a story this is and just how much I owe
her! Hope the exchange rate is in my favor… "The Rovers " Chapter 14 -- Freedom's End (o) Trowa pov All by himself, Trowa carried enough weapons to single-handedly destroy an enemy base. Like Duo, he was prepared to destroy the Sanc-built building with the troops in them. Relena be damned. Actually, he thought an unexpected thrill racing through him, ridding the world of Relena would definitely put the quietus on any royal wedding plans she might still think were in place for her and Quatre. Sure, he would try Quatre's plan first. And if it failed, then the outpost, troops, and Relena, were toast in a crater. He set up his missile launcher and calibrated it to fire high into the air. "Ready." Duo's main weapon was a high-output beam scythe, which he had nicknamed "Shinigami". "I can set this up to fire like a beam drill weapon, just gimme a second... there. Okay. I do three bursts, each one rising a few hundred feet higher in altitude than the preceding-" "Then I let loose with this," Trowa said with a fleeting smile. "A touch of Chang for the crowning achievement." "Yeah, well I hope Mr. Head-honcho Rashid gets that the four-blasts is a message that means: Quatre's here don't kill us, is all I say." Trowa hummed an agreement. Duo checked the trigger mechanism. "Ready?" "Yeah." A few seconds later, a burst of brilliant flashes lit the sky. One... two... three... brighter than the cloudless blue sky... and then the fourth shot above them all, exploding into a sparkling "crown" of silver and gold stars. "Oh, man! If that don't make a statement," Duo crowed for joy, "Nothing will!" "Oh, it did," Trowa said, pointing toward the dunes. "Look!" They couldn't hear the cheering, they were too far away, but the flag of L4 waved side to side. A rider appeared from behind a dune and waved both arms. "Rashid," Trowa said, putting a name to the gesturing figure. "Quatre was right. He did it." (o) Quatre was inexhaustible. He rode like the wind to a meeting with Rashid, his trusted aid, his right-hand man, the leader of the Maguanacs, like his father before him. But not like he would be. Quatre would not be a Maguanac or a sheikh of L4. He knew this in his heart, Trowa knew he would make it happen. "Quatre, Quatre my son-at-heart!" cried Rashid for his horseback. "On your right!" Heero shouted. A flash of metal. Trowa saw it. He'd been looking for it by the open doorway of the nearest building. Heero, had noticed it, too. They both aimed. Fired. The trooper, who dared to fire upon his Quatre, evaporated in the crossfire. Didn't matter. Quatre was safe. That was all that mattered to Trowa. He could tell when Heero smiled his way, that he understood. Shini had Heero like Shadow had his Quatre. Like Zechs had Wufei. It seemed to work out pretty fairly, to Trowa's mind. He headed down the path, following Quatre's lead, with Heero and the others behind him. But he didn't hurry. He gave Quatre his moment to speak to his countryman in private and share whatever information was important for their ears only. He held back the others. Made them wait. It didn't take long. Heero and Duo, Quatre and Trowa had come to free Relena and restore order. They had found the Maguanacs battling the last of the Sanc army. With Doctors' weapons, they ended it quickly. Those inside with building, the last holdouts were disarmed and imprisoned inside. Heero's goal was to find Relena, who was well, but not here. "We shall secure her release next," Quatre promised. Trowa understood that it was important that Quatre appear confident and it was why he smiled so sweetly upon his staff and officials right then. Trowa wondered if all his life his smile had been stretched across his rage, like a tightrope across a volcano's cauldron. Quatre, so gentle-seeming, so self-controlled-no wonder he shattered during sex. The intensity of love had opened Trowa's mind; through pain, separation, they both formed a partnership between lovers. He felt it all coming together now, in Quatre's land, when he felt it was important for him to come through for him. "Let Heero take care of that. Lend him some Maguanacs," Trowa urged. Heero actually jumped at the opportunity, which helped convince Quatre to hand off a few duties to others. Heero took Duo and his two guards, rounded up a few of Rashid's eager troops and parted for the Winner palace complex housing Relena and her Sanc entourage. Left with Quatre, Trowa felt he was ready to be the friend he needed. Sadly, the sheikh was dead. By order of Emperor Treize he had been executed, Rashid had told them, and Trowa was apt to believe him. Quatre was so sad and hurting, Trowa wanted to rip the man responsible for that to pieces, but since Treize had already paid the price by Chang's hand, there was nothing more to do but move on. Except. There was more he could do. There was more that he could do for Quatre. Like Zechs, Quatre had lost his father and been elevated to higher office, or so was the intent of the L4 ministry. The government wanted to place Quatre on the throne without delay. Quatre, his dear, thoughtful and complex Quatre, however, had made up his mind to choose a path different from his friend in Sanc. Trowa told him he would defend his decision, the one he had made weeks ago on the road. "Where ever we end up, you can count on me." "Thank you," Quatre said. "I am more grateful to you than you will ever know." Trowa smiled and winked in a very Duo-like fashion. "Oh, I'll know." The young prince-no-longer squeezed his hand and winked back. And then, Quatre declined the offer. "No more monarchy for L4," he insisted. "Certainly, you can see a broader canvas here...beyond us continuing in the shadow of Sanc. And I am a part of that shadow, a reminder of a controlling bond with the kingdom. This is the land of the Maguanacs. They fought for L4's freedom and deserve to reap the rewards. There is a new king in Sanc, and he is willing to sanction this without further fighting." There would be time to discuss the changes that would have to happen, but not this moment. Rashid silenced the ministers with a glare. "What would you have me do, Master Quatre?" He didn't answer immediately. The parallels with the events in Zechs' life were not lost on Trowa. He remembered how Zechs manfully took charge and declared his wishes and how men jumped at his command. Would anyone respect and obey Quatre now? Trowa wanted to kiss him to assure him of his affection and support. The somber occasion called for more restraint, though, so he settled on a light touch to Quatre's sleeve, then said, "Quatre, whatever you want, it will happen. I promise I'll help you." Like Chang was there to help Zechs. He could be what Quatre needed. He could be that for him. Brushing away the gathering tears gave Quatre another moment to control his voice. "I want to locate my father's body and prepare it for a proper, honorable interment," he told them both. Rashid responded quickly. "I have arranged the ceremony," he said, "in expectation of your wishes." "Thank you, Rashid." Quatre looked up into the tall man's face. Rashid patted the young man's shoulder, reassuring him and understanding his sorrow. "Your father with rest well in deep the caves in the Land of the Dead." Trowa walked alongside as Rashid led them to the dead sheikh's temporary resting spot: a surprisingly modest mausoleum on a circular hill in the desert. Two pieces of plain white cloth had been wrapped around the body. Hovering nearby, four attendants awaited orders and bowed when they saw Quatre. "Let's go," Quatre murmured, his voice lost in the quiet rock walls. He led the way to the horses. His father's shrouded body was carried out on a board and driven across an empty desert in a wagon. "You have been here before this," Trowa told Quatre. "You know where you're going." "Oh yes. Several times I was here. Alone." "Creepy place. Why here?" Trowa asked. "I was," Quatre related, "rather a precocious little boy-I learned to talk at an abnormally early age, and was so sane and proper that I was permitted an amount of initiative that most children scarcely attain by seven or eight. My mother died when I was born, which left me under the less vigilant and authoritative care of a nursery governess. My father was a stern, preoccupied politician and sheikh, who gave me little attention, and expected great things of me. For all my brightness I found life a little grey and dull I think. And one day I wandered." "You did more than wander," Trowa said. "You ran away to join the most disreputable gang of misfits you possibly could choose." "The Rovers you mean?" Quatre laughed in short bursts that dissipated into a cough. "That was much, much later. I ran away before that when I was really quite young." "Where to?" "Here. The Land of the Dead. Supposedly I told Rashid, because he did find me, that I wanted to talk to my grandfather in private." "Of course. What boy wouldn't?" "Well, he was long dead and buried. Still I thought spirits could speak to me when in reality it was just the emotions of others that I could sense and I was confused before working that out. Anyway, father was terribly angry, furious with me, and, as a result, I lost many privileges. Even my fairy tale books were taken away from me for a time-because I was 'too imaginative.' Eh? Yes, they did that! My father belonged to the old school. I wasn't beaten physically-" "Just spiritually." "Coming here-" Trowa began. "Coming here silences the voices, the feelings from others I didn't understand. I thought that by coming here I made the spirits happy and they were quiet." "Rashid made up the other excuse to hide your ...ability?" Trowa asked, but he wondered why all the bother hiding it at all? He'd wait for another time to ask that, since Quatre seemed too fragile now for that line of questioning. "Yes. That's how I knew him to be my very best friend and the only person who could understand me and whom I could trust." "I like him better, knowing all that." "I'm so glad of that, because he is a good man. More than a father to me than my actual father. Sorry." The body was set inside the burial plot, and mourners threw handfuls of yellow-colored soil onto it. Quatre gazed upon the stone tomb containing the king's remains. "I'm really sorry about that. But it is too late to change anything." The Sulphur-hued dirt was then covered with a bed of small stones as the mourners look down. "Let's go, now. I'm done here." (o) It didn't take long to locate the princess. She had been well taken care of; the rumors had just been ridiculous, leading Heero to think her life was in danger. She hadn't been harmed at all. He had expected to come to her aid like a knight in shining armor. He was more a worn out, unkempt man on a horse with a few comrades. It was, Heero felt, an anticlimactic end. She was tired of being restricted to the Winner family grounds, bored from lack of company, and ready to go home- home being her palace rooms in Sanc. She was absolutely thrilled to see Heero Yuy walk into her room. "Heero!" she cried, flowing across the room and falling into his arms. "Relena," he said. It was all he could think to say until she pulled back. "You look well," he stated plainly. "I am now that you are here! Your jacket...needs repair. And your hair!" "I haven't had time to cut it," he muttered, suddenly aware of his appearance and all his shortcomings. She hadn't changed. She looked lovely. "You should do that right away," she said. She laughed. "Have you come to take me away? I am so tired of this place, although no one was happier than I was when I heard the prince was gone-" "-actually," Duo interrupted, stepping into her view, "he's back. We all came together to free L4 from Sanc." Relena stared at the stranger speaking to her in a very familiar way. He was dressed in very common, grime-smeared clothes. She looked back at Heero, asking, "Who is this?" "Duo Maxwell at your service!" he smiled and bowed low. "He's a friend," Heero said. That wasn't enough. It didn't feel right at all. He was about to say more when he heard shouting outside. Duo cast a sour look at the door. "I'll take care of that. You two go ahead and... catch up." Heero could tell the voices came from the young guard he'd brought along from Sanc and someone else, possibly the long-lost friend who had stayed behind to guard Relena. He wanted to call Duo back and introduce him properly, but he had disappeared. "That was nice of him. I'm so pleased to have you alone now. I want to hear everything about everything that's happened- all that I've missed!" He took a seat when offered and told her, briefly, what he knew about Khushrenada's attempted takeover of the kingdom, the revolt of the colonies, Quatre's flight and complicated situation. "I think he intends to step down, not take the crown. He certainly isn't planning on marrying you." "At least he and I can agree on that outcome," she said, smiling. "But you look so sad. What's wrong?" And so he told her about the death of the king, Relena's step-father. It was a lot of information to absorb, he knew. "I'm sure I didn't tell it all very well. I only saw a small part of what was going on. Zechs will be able to fill you in when you get back." "When you take me back," she said, looking somber. "Probably not me. The guards will be sufficient. I'll send word back today that you are prepared to return. Your brother will send a larger entourage to collect you, if you want." "But why can't you ride back with me? You brought me here!" "I promised Duo..." "Duo! You mean that young man I just met? You'd rather keep some promise to him to... what? Stay here?" "Relena," Heero stopped her mid-sentence. "He's my boyfriend. I'm leaving the guard to travel with him. Actually, I only returned to the guard to serve Zechs and come here." "I should hate him, I suppose," she said wistfully, "but I can't bring myself to dislike someone you obviously find so utterly charming. I hope you chose well, my dear, dear Heero." "I did...have chosen well," he said with a small, embarrassed smile. "It does change my plans," she said. "What will you do now?" "You mean besides returning to Sanc when it's safe? I want to travel and learn about the kingdom and help where I can restore an equitable peace." "And for yourself?" "Oh, I'll find myself a suitable mate in time-but not too soon. I want to enjoy the freedom of choice I have now and discover the world." "That sounds nice." "Heero, what about you? Will I see you again? Will you ever return to Sanc?" "I don't know. I promised Duo a visit to L2 and I love the road. I promised to come to Zechs' coronation, so we will meet again." "No more court life for you besides that?" "Not if I can help it," he chuckled. "I don't know where to go first, but I don't want to be here when summer comes." "May I suggest a trip to the coast? It isn't far and you once told me you had never seen the ocean." "The coast? Yes. I'd like that. Quatre pointed out a road to take. Duo, I am certain, will like that plan, too. Thanks for reminding me, Relena." (o) "Trowa and I will stay in L4 until the summer heat starts its annual roasting of all things living, then we'll go to L3," Quatre said. "We'll all have so much fun together. You are staying, aren't you?" Duo and Heero shared a look. That special look shared between two people, when both are wishing that the other would do something that they both want to do, but hesitate to say they want to do. Heero sighed then said, "I want to see the coast and won't give that up, but... Send a messenger and we'll join you in L3." "We might peel off at L2," Duo added in a lazy manner, feeling relaxed and happy now that Heero was finally done with Relena and Sanc for a while. "Or check out L5's progress and visit the Doctors' labs." It would be a choice to make later. Not now. (o) Various terrors Heero had avoided feeling now returned in force- getting blown up being one, but losing Duo being the worst- and he woke up eight hours after having sweated through a wool blanket. He remembered only a few fragments of those dreams and forgot them as soon as he could. He staggered into the bathroom, shaved, showered, and had a good long look at himself in the mirror. So, this was who he was now, well, that was interesting to know. Older, leaner, marked. Experience had changed him. You know that feeling of anticipation when you're waiting for someone to show up at your house and you keep going outside to see if they're there yet? There was no word for it, but that's what Heero sensed. There was a knock at the door. Maybe that was what had awakened him? "I'll get it," Heero said to Duo who was trying to sit up in bed, bleary-eyed. "The fuck..." Duo grabbed a gun and followed, staying out of sight as Heero opened the door. A message from Zechs Merquise, King Milliardo of Sanc. "Thank you." Heero took the note from the messenger and closed the door, eyes closed with relief. Duo tabled his pulsing firearm, the power whining down and spitting out discharge. "You open it," Heero called on his way to the kitchen. "I'll make coffee." "Rashid's stash?" "Last of his roast." Heero cranked the mill and coffee grounds poured out into the wooden box. "He owes us more coffee. Payback in coffee, I say," Duo said. Heero agreed with a grunt. While it was being made, Duo stood with an arm over the other man's shoulder and looked out the window at the sea. Long, slow rollers ran into the shore, white spray flying off the crests in the driving wind. The dark water exploded as it hit the rocks at the base of the cliff, a pleasant thunder if you were warm and dry and having dinner. "What's it say?" Heero asked. "We won't be needing these." Duo said. All that effort. He ached inside, but watched as the Sanc Elite Guard ID and the transportation license and all the rest of it went into the blackened little stove that sat in the corner of the room. The papers burned in a few minutes, and that was the end of it. "We did it." That's all Duo said for a moment. "It's all over. He's invited us to his crowning ceremony. Wufei is with him. Staying in Sanc." "That's nice," Heero said. He poured the hot water over the grounds and waited. "Trowa and Quat can meet us on the way." "As they should." Heero smiled and reveled in the pleasant, genial, and intimate feeling associated with sitting around a fire on a drippy foggy day with a very, very close friend. They ate bread and crumbly farm cheese. Fragrant, steaming, cream-and-sugar-loaded coffee filled rustic tumblers. "The ocean looks so unchanging and enduring," Heero observed. "I hope-" "What?" Duo asked. "I hope that what you and I share will be like that." "It will. Don't worry 'bout that." Duo laughed. "We're in this for the long haul, baby." "Good." Heero tenderly ran his fingers through his lover's hair, drew their faces close, and kissed him. (o) Epilogue: A personal note by Heero Yuy First, I must tell you that I count it no small wonder to be alive. Looking back on the fateful events preceding Dragons Tooth terrible eruption, I recognize that I-and others-had been drawn into a strange kind of Russian roulette with that volcano in the Dragon Back range. The very beauty of the mountain helped deceive us. Wufei was right: it was an amazing spike of rock. It was a mountain in praise of mountains, towering over lesser peaks; its near-perfect cone glistening white in all seasons. Duo wanted to visit the doctors' labs to see where his magically powered weapons came into being. Zechs and Wufei were not far away in L5 inspecting the rebuilding efforts and sounded happy to join the small gathering once Trowa and Quatre had agreed to leave L3 and join us. We'd formed a plan to meet and climb the long road to the summit. The last time all six of us had been together, we had been witness to Sanc burying a king and crowning Zechs as the new monarch and Chang Wufei as his official consort. Looking back, the glitter and pomp had became one big blur of activity, because, really, all I could concentrate at the time on was Duo. There was one conversation, however, that I do recall. Zechs and Wufei were talking to Duo and me-Trowa and Quatre were packing to leave, so this must have happened just before we left Sanc. Zechs was waxing philosophical, I thought, but now I wonder if he was hinting for us to be on the lookout for signs... a cautionary note: "History has a way of repeating itself-" Zechs began. "I hope not this time," Duo said. "I for one do not want to fight some megalomaniac again anytime soon." "It begins a well-known quotation," Zechs said, "the rest proceeds, let's see... 'History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.( originally from Karl Marx)' " "Treize said that, didn't he?" Wufei asked. Zechs folded his long-fingered hands, held them between his knees, and nodded. "Well, just 'cause he said it," Duo said, defending his value system, "doesn't make it true." "No, it doesn't, but here's something to consider," Zechs said, "when we took Lady Une into custody, she told us about a little secret Treize had hidden away. He'd been married previously, apparently, short-lived, probably inconveniently because the woman has not been traceable." "You mean she's dead," Duo said. "So what's that got to do with history repeating itself?" "When we looked, and didn't find the wife, we discovered something else, the someone Une had actually been referring to- Khushrenada's daughter." "No kidding? He had an heir? Well, what-do-ya-know?" Duo chuckled. "A girl? That's not so bad." "That is what I said," Wufei put in. "But then I met the little hellion." "You think she's gonna start a new war?" Duo asked in disbelief. "Give it time," Zechs said calmly. "Freedom may not work out for all the colonies. L1, for instance, has chosen to remain connected to Lombardia. L4 might not like trading for all the food it requires in summer at the new elevated rates. L5 is accumulating a great deal of debt in its rebuilding process. Sometimes having the kingdom to lean on is a good thing." "So in your scenario, the colonies grow restless and surly and then along comes this-," "Savior," I supplied. "Yeah, this girl-leader calling for unification and blah, blah, blah..." Duo trailed off, shaking his head. "Hope you are wrong." "I suggested we simply execute her, the girl and Lady Une," Wufei said. "Not the most popular move for a newly crowned king, do you think?" Zechs asked. "I think you can manage to contain one little girl," Duo said, magnanimously. I thought so too, but wondered if maybe Wufei's suggestion wasn't the right direction to take, especially since the powerful weapons used to end the war, we knew, would expire sometime, date unknown. Now, more than a year had passed since the revolt of the colonies. The Sanc Kingdom and its autonomous countries, once its colonies, were continuing to make steady, harmonious progress toward fair-trade agreements and open borders. Lombaria lost considerable territory, mostly returning what they had taken from L5, a land still being rebuilt. L4 had interred its sheikh and replaced its monarchy with a provisional government, preparing for elections. Quatre was a free man who could choose whomever he wanted as a companion for life, and he had chosen Trowa Barton. Things were good. It was fall when it happened. At Howard's invitation, we were to all get a tour of the grand laboratories in the Dragon's Tooth range. Quatre had complained that he and Trowa would never get back to L4 in time for the lovely winter there. But it would be worth it. We all thought so, and were excited to do his bidding. It would be a moment everyone alive would remember for the rest of their lives. Yes, I'm putting off the telling of the Tooth's end, but it's hard. I'd rather tell about Duo and me. Duo and I were inseparable, and still are. We made L2 our home and travelled where the wind blew us. My spirit soared in his presence, and soars still now. His love was a constant in my life, and still is, and he was always, and always has been and still is to his day, a loyal and trustworthy friend. He was, still is, and will continue to be the love of my life. When Howard's summons to see the labs came, we were in L2. It only took us a week to reach the agreed-upon meeting place, several hundred miles from the Dragon's Tooth, and then we moved into a room at the Dragon's Inn and waited. Before the week's end, Quatre and Trowa rode in, followed a day later by Zechs and Wufei , who had sent word that they had been delayed a day, having to observe the raising of a yet another new L5 courthouse. We would all stay at the cozy inn until Howard arrived. A rushed note reached us fro from Howard four days later. Our trip to the doctors' labs was to be postponed. We were to wait at the inn "AND WATCH. "DO NOT GO TO THE LABORATORIES!" The Tooth was the highest peak of the ridge separating L5 from the lands beyond-which Wufei told us was called China- and made a worthy sight to see. But why watch it, we wondered? "EXPECT FIREWORKS THE KIND OF WHICH YOU'VE NEVER SEEN. JUST STAY AT THE INN." His advice saved our lives. We were among a very select few who weren't completely shocked when Dragon's Tooth began to smoke. Dragon's Tooth smoldered for one week, off and on; each day producing more smoke, darker smoke. "Hey, as cool as smoking peaks are," Duo said, "I'm losing interest." Quatre was adamant that we remain close. Maybe he could keep Trowa in bed most of the time, but Duo needed to move. He promised not to go more than an hour's ride away, and when Quatre acquiesced, Wufei grabbed at the opportunity to get some exercise and took Zechs out for a ride, too. So, one morning Duo and I went for a ride mostly to appease our mounting curiosity. We hadn't gone far from Dragon's Inn when the earth under our horses shook. "LOOK!" Duo shouted, pointing up at the Tooth. In that instant, the top disappeared in a huge puff, flames leaping, rocks flying for miles. There was no warning. As Howard later explained: "An abrupt pressure release allowed hot water in the system to flash to steam, which expanded explosively, initiating a hydrothermal blast directed laterally through the landslide scar." We watched as the summit slid away as a huge landslide. Luckily, there were no villages in the path when the entire northern side of collapsed and flowed down hill. Lucky for us was that Howard recommended we stay at the Dragon's Inn and that the inn escaped destruction-or was it, as Duo believed, not luck at all, but entirely due to Howard's exacting calculation that we were kept out of harm's way? Much of the initial blast fanned out northwest and northeast, a hurricane wave of scalding gases and fire-hot debris traveling faster than any horse, any animal, anything known. For tens of miles in all directions, virtually no trees remained of what was once dense forest. Just beyond this area, all standing trees were blown to the ground, and at the blast's outer limit, the remaining trees were thoroughly seared. The devastated area was blanketed by a deposit of hot debris carried by the blast. Then the main thrust of the eruption turned entirely upward. A roiling pillar of ash, flanked by nervous jabs of orange lightning, thrust some 12 miles into the morning sky. The force catapulted the doctors and scientists and the laboratories that housed them and their work off the high ridge and into space. Their bodies have yet to be found. Howard dipped his head in honor of them when he said, "Mother Nature is very mulish; when harnessed, she might kick back with a vengeance." The pillar plumed eastward into a widening dark cloud that would give the bordering towns midnight blackness at 9:30 a.m. Over the course of the day, prevailing winds blew tons of ash eastward across L1 and the Sanc Kingdom, and caused complete darkness in L5. Later we learned how major ash-falls spread across the kingdom in three days, and how activity throughout much of L5, L2, and L3 would be brought to a halt. Where Duo and I stood, the ash cloud was like a black window shade being pulled across the sky, wiping away the light of the sun. It was terrifying like nothing we had experienced before. As it quickly became as dark as night, we rode as fast as we dared, back to the inn for cover. Ash began to fall as we neared the building. We made it there in one piece, but even in the short dash from the stables to the house the hot gusts of ash plastered our hair, skin, and clothes with gritty gray particles. Trowa and Quatre met us at the door and told us Wufei and Zechs had just made it back as well. It was a grim- frightening- to watch at the windows that day wondering if doom was upon us all. The following dawn revealed a world covered in pale gray, the sky a roiling cloud that we could reach out and touch with our hands. Visibility was limited. We found out that the flow of hot rocks and gas had quickly melted the snow and ice capping the volcano, creating surges of water that eroded and mixed with loose rock debris, which poured down the volcano into river valleys, ripping trees from their roots and destroying roads and bridges. It would be a long time before the kingdom recovered from the eruption's destruction. Tons of ash would wash down storm drains and into sewer systems as people cleaned roofs and sidewalks. Local landfills received ash. Many tons of ash came down rivers and streams. Major rivers had to be dredged to allow shipping to pass, and the sand dredged from the bottom was deposited in large dikes. Within days destructive floods on the rivers pushed silt down the mountains and would reach the coast where a year ago Duo and I had enjoyed the first look at the ocean. Howard had never stayed at the laboratories of Dragon's Peak, preferring to work and live in L2, so he was alive. He put in an appearance a day later, said he hadn't been far away at the time of the blast. He shared our room that night. He eulogized over a cobbled-together dinner: "The mountain the doctors elected never to leave rewarded them with an eternal embrace, a cataclysmic burial of a magnitude befitting deity more than man, an extravaganza befitting the incredible technology they had created." Oh, yes. The wondrous, augmented weapons that helped us win the war never worked again. The mysterious source of the weapons' power, the core of the volcano held under extreme pressure deep in the mountain, was gone. But Sanc recovered, we all did. We were better off without those weapons and their mysterious power now that the kingdom was at peace. I think Trowa missed his virtual garrison-in-a-backpack the most. He always did carry too large an arsenal, liking the weight of it, I think, too much. Quatre never said a word about his loss of powerful weapons, having Trowa seemed to be enough substitute for him. Wufei and Zechs were so caught up in their kingdom's political machinations, I really never heard more than a shared "too bad about that mountain". Duo would opine on occasion about his Shinigami buster rifle, but there was never really any heat to his complaints. I had Duo. For me, that was quite enough explosive power to have at my fingertips. And with him I went a-roving from place to place. The End.
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