He was hearing the voice again. He couldn't make out what the voice was saying, but it was filled with such sorrow and fear that it pierced his very soul with unfathomable despair.

He woke up with a start, his body bathed in sweat, his limbs trembling, a headache threatening to appear. He sat up slowly and cradled his pounding head in his hands, trying to figure out the strange dream that had been haunting him for endless nights, but at the same time afraid to do so.

In his dream darkness enveloped him like a cocoon, his body was folded in a fetal position, his limbs as still as if they were made out of stone. It wasn't either cold or warm, no wind stirred around him; it was as if he was suspended in space, the time in pause. And then the voice appeared.

It started like a distant echo, blurred words depicting no sense that he could discern. As the echo kept crawling closer and closer to him, it became a wail, a child's piercing scream, and no matter how hard he tried to open his eyes, he couldn't, nor could he move his hands to cover his ears and drown the wretched sound. The wail surrounded him, suffocating him, filling him with cold terror, as if it was an omen of doom. He couldn't drag in air to his lungs anymore, his strength left him, his tongue was as dried as sandpaper, and he felt death tugging at his heart to rip it out of his chest.

That's when he would normally wake up, heart thundering against his hard chest, pale face bathed in sweat. He waited for his heart to slow down its mad pace before getting out of his bed, and staggered slightly as he stood up, surprised that the dream had taken so much of his strength.

He walked to the bathroom without stumbling, thankfully, and made his way to the shower. He caught his reflection in the mirror: clammy face with black rims under his eyes, his disheveled raven hair clung to his brow with the sweat; he looked as if he was under the effects of some strange disease. Maybe he was.

He stood under the hot spray of water for a long time, his tensed muscles finally relaxing, his cold skin warming up, his face losing that edge it had as he tried to forget the dream, hoping to make it disappear with the water down the drain.

He closed the water knob and wrapped his now warm body in a dry, white blanket. He sat down on the border of the bathing tub, closing his eyes and letting his body cool slowly in the steam now cloaking the bathroom. Relieved that the dream was now a blurry thought in his mind, other thoughts raced to him, filling him with other worries.

It had been five months since the incident with the ELS. Five months from which he remembered only the beginning when he, together with Tieria, found a way to connect with the alien entities. After creating the flower now adorning the space, he went in a coma-like state, stuck inside his own gundam, unable to wake up. His whole body had been consumed by the ELS, Tieria explained to him later, but strangely enough they did not destroy him. They simply covered him like a blanket, pulsating as if they had a heart of their own.

They did not dare take him from them, afraid they would destroy themselves and him as well in the process. They continued to study him closely through double o's cameras with growing concern as his veins turned silver and his hair turned pure white; even his tanned skin paled, and for a while they believed that the ELS were taking his energy and that he would soon die. But it turned out to be the contrary, the ELS were lending him strength, for he kept living even though he hadn't eaten nor drunk anything for about a month.

Another month passed by, with him in that strange vegetative state and them watching him as they felt useless not knowing how to help him. And then suddenly, out of the blue, the ELS disappeared. It happened so quickly that they were first skeptical at their disappearance, but Tiera confirmed that they had actually left leaving no trace. Rejoicing that they could finally help Setsuna, they recovered him, glad that they didn't have to worry about him anymore. But their relief was short lived, for Setsuna didn't wake up the next day nor the following weeks, and the strange silver color still coated his veins and hair, and his skin was as white as a sheet.

They fed him through tubes going to his veins, and continued their endless vigil over his dead-like body. At last, as the weeks kept passing slowly by, his pale tint started darkening, returning his skin to his normal, tanned color, and his hair turned black again, and the silver color left his veins, and there were finally signs of his coming back: a hand twitch, his closed eyes moving, his mumbling in his sleep. When he finally opened his eyes, everyone released a sight it seemed they all had been holding for a long, long time.

Setsuna turned his thoughts back to the present. He looked down at the palms of his hands: they were silver. They were the only parts of his body that hadn't returned to normal even after a month since he had woken up, and no one could explain why, for no one even knew what the ELS had done to him.

He had changed, not only physically but mentally as well. His intuition as an innovator seemed to have been increased considerably,but he was also hunted by a continuous sorrow that chased him like an eternal shadow; a sorrow he didn't know how to chase away.

He stood up and went to look for a change of clothes. He chose a simple pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt, and caught another sight of his reflection. At least he didn't look as sick as before, just faint traces of dark circles rimmed his brown eyes.

He left the room and walked through the hallway to the door that would lead him out of the Ptolemaios. On his way, he passed by a glass window from which he could see the gundams. He stopped for a moment and placed one hand on the glass, his mind thoughtful, his eyes focused on double o. His gundam.

He hadn't use it in such a long time he missed the feeling of being encased by the protection it offered him, missed the connection he felt when he was inside the machine. What would happen if the world didn't need him anymore? What would he do then? He didn't dare voice his worries, as if afraid doing so would make it a reality. After all, he was only good for one thing: fighting.

His eyes finally moved away from the silent machine and resumed his walk down the hallway.

He finally arrived to the door that would lead him to the outside. As soon as he opened it, a salty breeze met his face, while the cries of seagulls reached his ears and the rays of a blinding sun spilled over him. Sumeragi had decided to take a 'well deserved' break from the space and take some time off from their continuous work to enjoy the peace and warmth only a beach could offer them.

"Aren't you hot in those clothes?"

He turned to his right and met the bright blue eyes of a smiling Feldt. The pink-haired girl's smile was slightly teasing, while her eyes looked at him with gentleness.

"Where is everyone?" Setsuna asked, not answering her question. Feldt almost sighed, he was always like that, not answering questions he didn't believe were relevant. Not that he did it on purpose, it was just the way he was.

"They all had some sort of plan for today," she explained "unfortunately, their plans didn't include me, so now I'm stuck here all alone." she tried to sound whiny to tease him, tried to make him smile at least slightly, but his attention was already somewhere else only his mind could wander to. He was looking at the wide sea, his hard face unreadable, his posture straight and impenetrable, his intense brown eyes glued to the horizon. His raven black hair was covered with water droplets, and Feldt thought that she wouldn't mind spending the whole day staring at him.

But the hardness in his eyes slipped for a moment, and she could see an unfathomable pain behind his unyielding expression.

"Luckily you are here," she said suddenly, surprised when the words left her lips. He was pulled from whatever thoughts that had haunted him and turned his intense gaze to her. She quivered slightly, afraid she was going to start stuttering in her nervous state. She gulped and smiled up at him "I need to go to town to buy some clothes," she explained, dropping her now shy eyes to the ground "would you mind coming with me? It's not too far away."

He debated what to say, and the longest minute of her life passed in silence as she waited for his answer. It wasn't that he disliked her, but for the past weeks he had preferred being alone, feeling uncomfortable in the presence of others, especially hers, since he never knew what to say to her.

"Sure, I'll come with you." he finally answered, secretly wondering if he would regret his decision.

Thank you for stopping by to read this first chapter! I absolutely love Gundam 00, and I loved the movie but didn't really the ending, it was really disappointing for me T.T

I started writing this story so as to figure out what can happen after such an ending. I hope you enjoy it, please don't forget to press the lovely review button. Reviews are very valuable to me :)