Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.
Deceptions Epilogue: The Beginning
By Symee-Sama
Author's Note: Thanks for everyone's kind comments. You inspired me to get off of my lazy butt, and post this before the end of August. This is the last part to Deceptions, and I hope that the ending isn't 'crappy'. I've read my share of bad endings too, and I hope that this isn't one of them.
Heero gave a rare smile as he walked out of the prison that had been his home for ten years. Only ten years, but the world had changed. He was twenty-eight now, and there was no longer any need for him as a soldier. He needed to do this. To leave the life of violence and bloodshed behind him. Duo had been the one to suggest it, and Relena had agreed with it wholeheartedly.
Those two… He resisted the urge to smile. Without them he wouldn't have made it through the ten years. He would have gone insane before half his sentence was finished, but they had helped him. They had visited him every single week, and told him about what was happening in the outside world. Relena had told him about the current stability in the world, and Duo had spent most of his visits bragging and telling stories about his two daughters.
Heero would've liked to be as blessed as Duo was one day, but he couldn't do that here. He couldn't do it in a place where people looked at him as if he were going to go on a rampage at any second. He needed to find a new home, a new life, where he wouldn't be judged for the deeds of his past.
They had done that for him. Duo and Relena had found a small house in Hiroshima, bought it with Relena's money, and then gave him enough money to set up a business there. He wasn't sure what he was going to go into yet, but he knew that it would have nothing to do with soldiering. As he said before, there was no need for soldiers anymore. Thanks to her.
Relena… He thought with regret. He wouldn't see her after this. That was part of the agreement. They would separate and move on with their lives. She would find someone better than him that she could spend her life with, and he… he would never forget her.
He had said goodbye to Duo last night, not even attempting to break the bone-crushing embrace that the braided man pulled him into. "Take good care of Hilde and the kids." He had said to his best friend. "Good luck in life."
"You too, buddy." Duo had returned. "We're gonna miss you." Heero had watched him go without saying anything else, but later, what Duo had said returned to him. We're gonna miss you. And he realised that he was going to miss them too. All of them.
It had taken ten years, but he had finally earned back his friends' trust. He had never expected them to forgive him, and they hadn't. Not exactly. He didn't think that they would ever forgive or forget what he had done to them under the influence of the Zero system, but that was fine with him. He didn't want them to forgive him for that.
He wanted them to put it behind them, but he realised that they could never truly forget it. You could see it when they had visited him. When they had come to say goodbye. There had been a dark cloud hanging over each and every one of them, and he had known that they were thinking of his past deeds as they wished him well.
They would always be like that, and that was why he couldn't stay. He couldn't survive with the tentative trust that they could offer him. He needed something more, and he knew that he had no right to ask it from them, so he was leaving. Starting again without any comrades in arms, without any people who had known him as the Perfect Soldier, and Heero Yuy, without her…
Relena. His chest tightened at the thought. What would it be like to live without her? To be able to see her when she made speeches to the people, but to never hear her laugh again? He would miss her more than anything, and that nearly overshadowed the prospect of being allowed to start over.
He was surprised when she met him in the parking lot of the prison, and the ache in his heart intensified as he stared at her, memorizing her features. "Relena." He said in way of greeting.
"Hello Heero," she said in her composed manner. "I just wanted to say goodbye. I will miss you." He opened his mouth to tell her how he felt, but then closed it again. If he told her how he still felt about her, it would ruin everything that he was leaving. If he told her how he felt and then left, it would hurt her. He couldn't do that to her. Not after all that she had done for him, and not after all that he had done to her. He had hurt her enough.
"Pagan will take you to the airport." Relena said in a business-like tone, not noticing his hesitation, and he walked past her, opening the car door. "Be careful, Heero."
Her words hit him like a tidal wave, transporting him back twelve years to when he had saved her from Whitefang and they had said goodbye in the hangar. "You don't have to worry about me." He said gruffly, mimicking his past words. It seemed fitting that they would say goodbye like this. They would forget about their love and each other in the same manner that they realised it, so many years ago.
"You're a strong person." Relena said softly, fully understanding the symbolism of their conversation. "But don't ask me not to worry for you." She smiled sadly. "Because I want to."
"Relena." Heero said in the same tone that she had, and he resisted the urge to reach for her. "Goodbye…" He turned away from her, and got into the car. Not looking back as it pulled out of the parking lot, and headed towards the airport. Headed towards his new life.
Relena watched his car until it became a tiny speck on the horizon before she was able to speak. Her heart was breaking, but she would make it through this. A tear slid down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. He wouldn't have wanted her to cry over him.
She wanted to cry though. She had never gotten a chance to tell him. To tell him that she had forgiven him, and that she loved him still. Even after ten years, she still loved him. Another thought came to her, doubling her sorrow. She had never said goodbye…
Relena steeled herself and got into her own car, pulling out of the parking lot and driving the opposite way that Heero had. She needed some time by herself to think, but as soon as she stepped into her office, she was bombarded with paperwork, and meetings, not getting a moment to herself until she left for home.
She dismissed Pagan, and the other servants, telling them that she needed some time. They had all understood. They had all known how she felt about Heero. Finally alone, away from the sympathetic looks and the pleas for help, she sat out on her balcony and watched the night sky, thinking about Heero and the life that he had left behind.
I hope that you are happy with your new life. She prayed that her thoughts would reach him somehow, so she could let him know how she felt about him. I love you, Heero Yuy, and I always will. She paused for a moment to gather her composure. It was silly that she still had trouble saying it, even in her head. I love you Heero Yuy. She thought again, and smiled as a shooting star blazed across the sky.
Goodbye.
* * * * *
Heero sat at the airport, looking out the window at the starry night sky. He would miss her so much. A shooting star crossed the black expanse, and he smiled, pressing his hand against the glass before he turned away from the window, and boarded his flight. Somehow he knew that everything was going to be alright.
Author's Note: I am really sad to see this story go. I hope that it met all of your expectations, and hopefully, in some areas, exceeded them. My brother wants me to write a sequel where Heero and Relena are together, but at the moment, that doesn't seem likely. I think it's more realistic with them apart for this fic. Again, I hope that you enjoyed it, and thank you so much for your support.