What if Trowa hadn’t walked away from Midii that fateful day….

~*~A.C. 190~*~

All around him, signs of the horrid massacre were evident; bodies everywhere, mobile suits in pieces…a vast wasteland void of almost all life. 10-year-old ‘Nanashi’ (or so he was called) slowly bent over the corpse of the man he used to call Captain. His long, brown bangs once again fell over his face, obstructing deep, emerald eyes, as he checked for a pulse and found none. Quickly glancing around, he came to the conclusion that he, alone, had survived the surprise attack on his fellow troops. Well, that is, except for…

Nanashi could hear her soft presence behind him. The little girl, no older than he, walked over until she was less than ten feet away; she didn’t have the courage to get any closer. Not bothering to get up or even turn to face her, his voice broke the deafening silence surrounding the pair.

“How much did you get?”

Though his life of a trained soldier had left the young boy all but void of emotions, a clear trace of hatred could be detected from that one simple question. Midii shivered slightly, not from the air around them, but from the coldness of his tone. She stood her ground, however, not willing to let him see her fear. 

This time, he turned to look her straight in the eye as he spoke. “Well?”

“Enough so that my three brothers and sick father will be able to eat for a while…” she replied, trying desperately not to let her voice break. Her long, blonde hair fell in her face as her deep hazel-gray eyes looked directly into his. The young girl’s knees buckled under her as Nanashi stood up and walked right up to her. His gaze diverted from hers as they rested upon the object hanging by a chain from her neck.

“That device around your neck is a transmitter, isn’t it?” he asked, already knowing the answer. Before Midii could even reply, he continued, “The Federation could hear every move we made.”

Finding herself unable to do anything else, Midii simply nodded. “That’s right…but you’re still alive. You’re the only one.” She glanced down briefly at the cross he wore around his neck, hoping he wouldn’t notice. She was both glad and sorry about ever giving it to him. Unfortunately for her, Nanashi followed her gaze and immediately caught on.

“Because of this?” He asked, motioning towards the object in question. When Midii slowly nodded, he yanked it off his neck and threw it to the ground in one swipe.

Her eyes followed the faint golden object as it fell to the floor. “Let me tell you…that cross is also a transmitter.” The sound of metal clicking brought her attention back to the boy in front of her, who now had a gun pointed directly at her heart. Midii stared straight down the gun’s barrel, but didn’t move. Or rather, she found she couldn’t move; her legs wouldn’t work anymore, leaving her nearly paralyzed with fear. She hid it as best she could as her eyes traveled up to look directly into those of the young, silent soldier she had come to grow so fond of over the past few weeks.

His eyes were completely emotionless, contrast to his icy voice as he accused her of what they both knew to be true. In an attempt to arise emotion in them… any emotion…she lowered her voice to nearly a whisper as she said, “So even you can get angry, hmm? No name…” her eyes narrowed as she recalled something the boy had said to her the day she had given him the cross that now lay in the dirt.

“You once said I was you. But really, I’m completely different; I’m not happy, like you.”

This caught Nanashi a bit off guard, and he raised an eyebrow at her, “You’re saying I’m happy?”

Before she even replied to him, Midii carefully took off her tracking device and threw it to the ground, right next to the cross. “You have your freedom. You’re much happier than I am.”

I like you, her mind whispered to him. Lost in a wave of memories and emotions, she continued without even realizing what she was saying, “You have nothing that could possibly be taken away from you: no name…no past…right now, not even companions. I have the name ‘Midii Une.’ I have a sick father and three little brothers to take care of…”

I love you…

Tears began welling up in her eyes as she continued to stare at the two objects shimmering against the faint light coming from the stars against the dust. “Because of that, I had to become a spy and cause the deaths of so many people.”

She felt the warm trickle of water flow down her cheeks as she attempted, in vain, to keep them back. In a last-minute outburst of emotion, she stared directly at him and shouted, “I can’t even tell the person I love that I love him!”

The boy was completely taken aback by this, and lowered his gun slightly. Midii, on the other hand, continued on, “And do you even understand why?!? Because I’m not empty, like you…I have too much: family…a home…the knowledge of what horrible things I’ve done…” Her voice finally broke as she continued to cry, not caring anymore if he saw her.

I wanted to be beside you…

Shutting her eyes tight, and clenching her fists, Midii managed to sob out, “That’s why I hate empty people, like you…” Immediately after she said it, however, Midii wished she could take it back.

Always with you…who I love…

Opening her eyes slightly, Midii saw him raise his gun again. Thinking that he was aiming at her, she quickly closed her eyes once again, her shoulders shaking slightly as she continued sobbing.

Goodbye, my Nanashi…

The sounds of two gunshots rang out through the land….

Shaking with fear, Midii suddenly realized that she was still alive. In fact, she was more than alive…she was unharmed. Snapping her eyes open, the first thing the blonde-haired girl noticed was a thin trail of smoke coming from both her transmitter and the cross…

“Nanashi?” she whispered, then looked back up at him. He neither retreated nor looked away. Instead, he placed his gun back into its holder, and then walked over to the little girl who had fallen to her knees with relief just seconds earlier. With more gentleness than she had ever seen from him, the boy knelt down beside her. Midii found she was at a loss for words as she looked directly in his eyes and, for the first time, saw something in them….

“Did you mean it, Midii? Did you mean what you said earlier?” he spoke up.

“About…about what?”

“About you not being able to tell this person that you love him?” For the first time, Midii realized exactly what she had said to him, and gasped slightly. Afraid he was about to reject her, Midii turned away. As she did, she saw the very first drops of rain hitting the dirt beside her.

Touching her chin slightly, Nanashi brought her gaze back to his. Her heartbroken, hazel eyes looked deeply into his emerald pools, and she became lost in them. The drops of rain became more and more frequent as they quickly turned to a light drizzle. So softly that she just barely heard him, Nanashi repeated his question.

“Did you mean it?”

She couldn’t bring herself to look away again, so she just nodded in response. “Yes…I did, and still do.”

His eyes held such compassion as he smiled gently for the first time and whispered, “Well why don’t you tell him now?”

Midii was hesitant at first, but then realized something. He wasn’t turning away from her, wasn’t mocking her…he was smiling at her. Deciding to take a chance, she took a deep breath and whispered four words.

“I love you, Nanashi”

The rain fell harder on the two, though they were all but oblivious to neither its presence, nor the fact that they were now both drenched. Never taking their eyes off one another, the two closely moved closer until their lips met in a brief, innocent kiss.

My first kiss….

Midii was the first to pull away. She looked directly up at her object of affection, and smiled back..

“I forgive you, Midii.” Nanashi replied. Then, he added, “and I care deeply for you, too”

Her heart sank slightly with the way he had phrased it, but then Midii realized that something like this must have been completely new to the boy. He had been around military forces all his life…such a thing could harden anybody’s heart. He never learned about compassion and love, not even familial love seeing as he was an orphan. It was simple; he just wasn’t ready yet. In a way, it made complete sense. And after all, they were only ten. No matter how much the two had matured because of their life in war, they were still just children. For the first time since she was five years old, Midii felt…happy. And without guilt; he understood that she had done what she did in an attempt to support her family, a burden no ordinary 10-year-old should have to bear. But then again, Midii was no ordinary 10-year old….

Suddenly, the realization of something fell upon Nanashi as his expression became more serious. “But…what about your family, Midii?” he asked, briefly glancing down upon the small, metal heap lying in the ground. When he turned to look back at her, he found her eyes closed as if deep in thought.

“According to the information I had been given by the Federation, if I died…they promised to take care of Father and my brothers, so long as I had at least accomplished my mission…” she opened her eyes to look at him as she spoke her next words, “The last dialogue that had passed through the transmitters made it sound as if you were really going to shoot me…and the gunshots….”

“Confirmed it, so to speak?” he finished her sentence. Midii just nodded in response. “So…they think you’re dead now.” It wasn’t really a question, more of a statement they both knew to be true.

The two were silent for a good while as it continued to rain down on them. Yet, neither of them minded all that much. At one point, Nanashi took off the scarf he constantly wore around his neck, and gently wrapped it around the young girl’s arms in an attempt to warm her up. It fit easily around her petite body as the thickness of the material helped protect her from the cool air around them.

“We should probably find shelter.” Nanashi’s quiet voice rang out through the silence. Acknowledging him, Midii stood up and waited for him to do the same. When he did, her voice suddenly became small as she asked the boy in front of her a simple question.

“What going to happen to us, Nanashi?” she was greeted only with the sound of rain drizzling down upon the moist earth, splashing in random puddles which had already begun to form. Truth be told, nether one of the children was sure exactly what they would, or could, do. Obviously, they would need to find someplace to stay…a job…food…. 

A thought suddenly occurred to Midii as she looked up at the boy with wide eyes. “What if they try to separate us? I don’t want to lose you, too…you’re all I have left….” She was silenced as Nanashi gently wrapped his arm around her in a tight embrace.

“I won’t let them, Midii..” He whispered softly to her, so she just barely heard him over the sound of the rain beating the ground.

“Don’t ever leave me…please…” her timid voice spoke up.

He looked down upon the girl in his arms, rainwater streamed down cheeks as her flowing locks were now plastered to the sides of her face.

“I promise, Midii…I’ll never leave you….”

~*~A.C. 197~*~

Sighing, the blonde-haired girl pushed a few excess strands off her face as she continued to work. It was a rather easy task; all she had to do was finish re-wiring one of the backup panels for the system’s main computer…a simple job for someone of her skills. Yet, her memories kept distracting her from the job at hand.

Outside, the first signs of rain were beginning to show, as the sky grew darker. Midii both hated and loved the rain, both for the same reason. It brought back memories, good and bad. It had been raining the day she had received her first kiss, the day she had begun her new, wonderful life, with him. Tears came to her eyes as the girl reminisced about the past seven years of her life….

With the knowledge that her family would now be safe and taken care of, the two left in search of shelter. By the time dawn had come, the two young children had made their way to the nearest town. Midii was just barely awake and was being supported by Nanashi, who was drooping himself. Once inside the village, they had finally collapsed right in the middle of the street from exhaustion. A mechanic’s wife had watched them as they fell, and hurriedly rushed outside to help them. With motherly instincts, she checked the two over very carefully for signs of injury, and was relieved to find that, other than a few bruises and scrapes, they were virtually unharmed.

 “They must’ve come from that horrid attack yesterday about five miles from here.” She murmured to herself, before calling her husband for help. Gently, so as not to wake the sleeping children, the two carried them inside their house.

 Midii smiled at the memory of waking up in a soft bed, with Nanashi in the bed right next to hers. Even though she had been surrounded by unfamiliar territory, she didn’t feel scared at all. The two had sat up simultaneously and glanced around quietly at their surroundings. To this day, Midii could recall every detail about that room: solid, wooden floor, stone, whitewashed walls with a few paintings hanging up, a couple bookcases along one wall…not exactly the classiest place ever, but the comfort and warmth brought out by the simplicity of it’s decorations had eased the children greatly.

 The lady who had found them entered the room upon hearing the two children awaken. She appeared to be no less than forty years old, with long, chestnut brown hair and deep blue eyes. The two instantly took a liking to her as she introduced herself in a quiet, gentle voice.

 “Hello there. You two must’ve had a rough night…. “ she smiled at the pair as she spoke. “My name is Valerie Demannor. I found the both of you collapsed on the street last night, and my husband and I took you in.”

 The girl, being trained all her life with perfect manners, was the first to respond, “My name’s Midii…and this is Nanashi.” The woman raised an eyebrow at the second name, but said nothing as Midii continued on, “and thank you very much for your hospitality.”

 “No trouble at all, dear…. You two don’t have anywhere to go, do you?” she questioned them. The two simply shook their heads in response. “Would you like to stay here with us?”

 “Oh…we don’t want to be a bother.” Midii quickly spoke up, glancing from Nanashi back to Mrs. Demannor.

 “It’s no bother at all. We have no children of our own, so it would be nice to have some youngsters like you around.”

 Midii looked back over at Nanashi. Silently, the two communicated with their eyes towards each other about their predicament. Mrs. Demannor noticed this, and smiled.

 “Thank you very much, Mrs. Demannor; we would love to stay with you.” Nanashi spoke for the two of them. The woman looked over at the boy who had just spoken.

 “Then it’s settled…and you two can call me Valerie….”

That had been the start of a wonderful five years for Midii. She and Nanashi had become apprentices for Mr. Demannor’s profession, which revolved around mechanical and technological construction and repair. Mr. Demannor, whom they learned went by the name Charlie, had never met more determined children then the two he had come to look upon as his own. Rarely did a day go by when the children weren’t at work with him, slowly learning the tricks of the trade. In time, they surpassed their mentor in skill, though it never seemed to surprise him. Midii and Nanashi were always together, whether it be working or play, so it was no surprise that they were dead equal in skill as well.

As the rain pounding on the metal roof above her head, the blonde-haired girl finished up the last of the repairs before packing up and heading home. As if by instinct, she glanced at the spot next to her, almost expecting him to be there. But he wasn’t; the space was vacant save for her tools. It had been that way for nearly two years now. Despite his promise, Nanashi had left her all alone. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the young 17-year-old climbed down the ladder to the ground, thinking about that day, and the two words that had torn him away from her…

Operation Meteor….

The room was filled with chatter and the clinking of metal against metal as the hundred plus mechanics kept working. Outside, it was currently peaceful, but each and every person knew of the horrible tragedies surrounding him or her. Each day, reports of casualties came in as people prayed and begged that their loved ones weren’t on the list.

Except for two. The two youngest, yet most skilled mechanics of all hadn’t a care in the world. Ever since the year prior, when they had left earth to take up a job on colony L3 for the Barton Foundation as mobile suit mechanics, they had remained as light-hearted as ever. Their optimism along with great teamwork quickly made them known among fellow coworkers as the best two mechanics in the entire colony.

What amazed the others most was their age. Both, when they had first arrived, were no more than fourteen, half the number of years any other mechanic around them had. A boy and a girl, inseparable at any given time. The boy was the quiet one of the two, never speaking to anyone but her. He had long, brown hair that fell in front of his face, obstructing one of his eyes from view, the other being a deep green surpassing any emerald in color. He rarely smiled and kept mostly to himself. The girl was a bit more open up, although she also never conversed much with others. He hair was a platinum blonde color, which fell over her shoulders in soft waves, framing her face. Her eyes were a hazel-gray with just a hint of blue in them. When she did speak, her voice was quiet, with a melodic tone to it.

Earlier that day, she and Nanashi were working on some of the finer adjustments to one of the larger mobile suits. The Foundation had called it a Gundam, giving it the name “Heavyarms.” The name suited it well; it was, by far, the most powerful MS Midii had ever seen. It’s building material, referred to as Gundanium alloy—the strongest type of metal in the universe—was of such a high quality in strength, almost nothing could penetrate it, and it carried more firepower than it would take to blow up a colony. Only the highest-ranking mechanics were assigned to work on this suit, Midii and Nanashi being two of them.

“I think we’re going to need a smaller wrench.” He spoke up to her. She nodded in response, not bothering to look up from her work, “I’ll go get it.”

He stood up, and walked around the corner, floating slightly from the lack of gravity. Just as he had turned the corner, Midii heard a voice calling out to him.

“Hey, you! Nanashi!” letting the curiosity get the better of her, Midii peeked out from behind Heavyarms, only to see the mobile suit’s future pilot: Trowa Barton, son of Deikem Barton, the head of the Barton Foundation for colony L3. “I’ll show you something I’ve never shown anyone before.”

He floated straight up to the boy, never noticing Midii watching them in the background, and took out a small photograph. He handed it to Nanashi, pointing out something. Midii could just barely make out two redheaded figures in the picture, mother and daughter, presumably.

“Her name’s Marimea, and she’s my sister’s daughter. She’s going to be the leader of Earth when we conquer it.” He pointed to the little girl in the picture who was smiling at the camera from her mother’s arms.

Conquer it? Midii knew that the idea was to eventually send Heavyarms down to earth in an act of revenge for the assassination of the colonial pacifist, Heero Yuy, or so she had been told, but conquering Earth? She had never heard anything about conquering Earth before. Passing it off as having misheard, Midii decided to get back to work. A few moments later, Nanshi returned with the wrench he had gone in search of. He immediately went back to assisting Midii, never giving any evidence that anything had happened in the past few minutes. The whole situation made the girl a bit uneasy, but she decided to ignore it and continue on with the repairs.

That was the very first time she had seen the man called Trowa Barton. He was very tall, standing at around 6’ (maybe a little taller), with broad shoulders, dirty blonde hair, and dark colored eyes. Something about him sent shivers down the girl’s spine, even now as she though back about him. She had immediately told Nanashi about the feeling she had gotten when she heard his voice; it was as if she knew something bad was going to happen, and he would be either the cause of it, or play a major role. He told her not to worry, that nothing would happen, and that she shouldn’t worry. Midii found comfort in his quiet words, as she always did, and decided to leave it be at that. Little did they know how right she was to worry….

The final adjustments were being added to Heavyarms. Most of the other mechanics were out on lunch break, but Nanashi and Midii had chosen to stay behind, claiming they weren’t hungry. No sooner had everyone left, then the two scientists, Doctor S and his assistant, walked through the other doorway. The two could head them arguing with somebody. Midii immediately recognized the voice as Trowa Barton, and the chills returned to her. Nanashi motioned for her to remain quiet so the two could listen in.

“What’s this all about? Why are we limiting all of our attacks to OZ?” Trowa screamed out, obviously infuriated with the two scientists.

“Trowa, If we proceed with Operation Meteor, two billion people will die.” Midii gasped slightly, but thankfully no one heard her. Nanashi placed his hand over her mouth quickly to keep her silent as he kept listening. “Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme just to get revenge for Heero Yuy?”

“The purpose of this plan is NOT revenge; the purpose of the plan is for the colonies to take over the earth.”

“But Trowa…” Doctor S tried to reason with the man, but he cut him off.

“I see…” he began, his voice calming a little, “You’re jealous…you’re jealous that MY father and us members of the Barton foundation will rule the earth’s sphere.” He turned away from the scientists and headed off towards the nearest exit. Midii and Nanashi still couldn’t see exactly what was going on, but they heard the sounds of footsteps heading their way. Overcome with fear, Midii tensed up and tightly shut her eyes. She grasped the wrench in her hand just as tightly, as Nanashi held on to her protectively.

“Where are you going? Trowa!” Doctor S called out.

“I’m telling this to my father. You’ll see; the Barton Foundation WILL rule the Earth’s sphere…” Midii and Trowa heard him smugly grunt at the scientist in hostility…and then a gunshot rang out.

“Now look at what you’ve done!” Doctor S shouted as his assistant, though he himself didn’t sound too sorry about it.

‘I’m sorry, but I have a family on earth…” Midii couldn’t take it anymore; her hands were shaking so badly she dropped the wrench that was in her hand. The loud clatter it made startled the scientists as the assistant held up his gun again.

“Who’s there?” Midii was paralyzed with fear. Her whole body now was shaking from the scene she and Nanashi had just overheard, and now she had given them away. She turned to look at Nanashi with wide eyes, but he once again motioned for her to be silenced.

“Nanashi?” she whispered.

“Don’t worry Midii…I promised I would protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do…”he whispered back, then walked out to meet the scientists, hands above his head. They never noticed the blonde-haired girl peek out from behind the Mobile Suit to watch them. She held her breath as the assistant pointed his gun at Nanashi.

“Go ahead and shoot me if you want, but I must warn you; I might retaliate” he said in a calm voice, showing no signs of fear.

No…was all her mind could say. But then, Doctor S said to put the gun down, and relief flowed through Midii’s body as she carefully listened to the conversation at hand….

“No, stop…they’ll find about this sooner or later, anyways.”

“You’re giving up too easily,” Nanashi continued, getting the attention of both the scientists and Midii.

 What’s he doing? She thought, worriedly.

“What do you mean?” Doctor S asked him warily. The boy lowed his hands, and looked down at the body of Trowa before replying, “I was feeling insecure without a name…. I wouldn’t mind taking his.”

“Are you saying you want to pilot Heavyarms?”

Yes…what are you saying, Nanashi? Midii desperately wanted to know.

“Yes…I’ve become quite fond of this suit.” His expression suddenly became more serious as he added, “But I have no intentions of taking over Earth.”

The scientists thought about this for a moment, before Doctor S spoke up. “Why not? As of this moment, your name is Trowa Barton. You are in charge of Operation Meteor.” 

“…understood.” Was all the newly appointed Trowa Barton could reply.

Midii just slung back into the shadows, her eyes staring out into oblivion as she sunk down to the floor with her back against the side of the MS. How could he do this to her? She knew what they were implying; “Trowa” would travel to earth in the Gundam in place of the original pilot, and fight. There was a great chance that he wouldn’t come back.

Wouldn’t…come…back….

Right then and there, Midii burst into silent tears as she realized that she was about to loose the one person who had promised to always be with her.

She was right; soon after, “Trowa” had left for earth. Though she begged him to take her along, they both knew that he couldn’t; she would be safer in the colony. The day before he left, however, was one that would be implanted in her mind forever….

The two walked slowly through the park as the darkness of artificial night fell upon the colony. If anything, the ‘night’ was better than the ‘day’, because it gave those living inside the colony a chance to get a real good look at the stars. Midii absolutely loved the stars, which is why she had begged Nanashi to take her here.

“Technically, I have a name now. You no longer need to call me ‘Nanashi’.” He reminded her. Midii just smiled and shook her head.

“You’ll always be my Nanashi, no matter what name you go by.” And the two briefly kissed; before Nanashi pulled out a surprise he had been keeping for her. Telling her to close her eyes, he gently placed a small, velvet box in her hands. She gasped at the sight of what was inside.

It was a small, golden cross, similar in almost every way to the one she had given Nanashi five years ago, only this one was much more beautiful. The label inside read ’18 karats’, and the cross was outlined with an emerald border…the same emerald shade of his eyes.

“Oh…Nanashi…” she breathed as he took the necklace out, pushed her hair back gently, and tied it around her neck.

Nanashi smiled at her shocked expression, something he did only for her. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you like it.”

“No…I love it.” She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as he held onto her waist, tears streaming down her cheeks from both joy and sorrow. “I’m going to miss you, Nanashi.”

“I’ll miss you, too, Little-Middle-Midii.” He whispered, using the nickname he had long ago given her. Normally, she absolutely hated being called that, but tonight, the name never sounded so wonderful. “But remember; as long as you wear that cross, I’ll always be with you, protecting you.”

She looked up at him. “I’ll never take it off.”

And the two stayed like that for a good while, holding each other under the stars, neither one wishing the moment to end….

But it did end. Midii realized as the last of her memories played in her mind. She clutched her necklace, a golden cross with emerald lining, tightly as she made her way home in the rain….

______________________________________________________________________

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E-mail ~J.C.~