Disclaimer: All Gundam Wing characters belong to Sotsu Agency Sunrise and Bandai. I only own this little fanfic though. |
Inside one of the Winner's resource satellites, Quatre was showing Heero around. Since both the Earth and the colonies rejected the Gundams, there was not really anywhere they could go. Right now, only Duo and Wufei still possessed their Gundams. "Don't worry, Heero." The blond Arabian boy noticed Heero's pondering. "Even though we lost Zero, there is another Gundam here." "Another Gundam?" Heero looked at him with questioning eyes. "Yes." Quatre nodded, pointing at a closed door. "When I found the blueprints to build Zero, I also found a set of blueprints for another Gundam." He inputted some code on the panel next to the door. Slowly, the door to the hangar slid open. The two stepped inside to see a winged white suit standing there with a long sword and a rifle in hands. Even without it being activated, Heero could feel its power, yet a sense of serenity also washed over him at the same time. "What do you think, Heero?" Quatre smiled. "This was designed by Dr. J, the same man that built Wing." Heero walked toward the drafting table to look at the blueprints. He noticed a note attached on the first sheet. It's Dr. J's handwriting: [Noin, this is the suit I promised you. Its name is Agapé, and I hope you are worthy of its name. I don't know if this suit will ever be built, but I included the Zero System anyway. I realize that it is not an easy system to conquer, but from I had seen of you when you were with us, I believe you can do it. Follow your heart. The biggest mistake I've ever made was making Heero emotionless. Don't repeat the same mistake as I did.] "We can't use this suit." Heero said quietly after putting down the prints. "Why not?" Quatre was puzzled. "It's Noin's suit." "Do you know this Noin, Heero?" Heero didn't answer his question and started walking toward the entrance of the hangar. "Come on, didn't you say that you've built a training room for the Zero System?" "Yes." Quatre quickly exited the hangar and caught up with Heero. "I thought it would help us master the System when we encounter it next time." "Let's do it then." was all Heero said.
Quatre came out from the Zero System training room very exhausted, and he was covered in cold sweats. Heero had no trouble with the System after a couple times, but Quatre just could not do it. The Zero System reminded him of the things he did while piloting Zero, and it was too much for the gentle Arabian. When he rested himself on the sofa, the intercom beeped. "Mr. Quatre, someone is here to see you. Would you like to receive him?" Quatre was alarmed by an unexpected visitor, but he was also curious. No one knew that the heir to the Winner family was a Gundam pilot, so there should not be any danger. "Yes, I'll be there shortly." When Quatre entered the meeting room, he saw a figure sitting with his back to him. Before he could speak, the visitor waved his hand and spoke in a cheery voice. "Yo, Quatre! You sure have a nice place here." The grinning face of the pilot of DeathScythe came into view following the sentence. "Duo!" Quatre was overjoyed. He had been worrying about him since they left Earth. "Listen, I still need to do some work to complete DeathScythe. Think I can stay here for a while?" "Of course! You can have all the resources you need here!" Quatre beamed. "I'll go get Heero." The brown-haired pilot came into the room with Quatre a few minutes later with his usual expressionless face. "Yo, Heero! Good to see you again." The braided boy grinned. "You can at least show some happiness at seeing me, you know." "I knew you'd get out." "Gee, thanks for having so much faith in me." Duo sighed.
While Duo was working on DeathScythe, the comm unit inside the cockpit blipped. He put down the tool and climbed back into the cockpit. On the screen was the smiling face of someone with a silver cross. "Hey, sis!" Duo happily exclaimed. "You finally found me." "Took me a while." Noin smiled. "What's up?" Duo inquired. "I'm looking for you Gundam pilots." Noin said. "Do you think you can come to the Sanc Kingdom to help me?" "The Sanc Kingdom?" Duo frowned slightly. "Isn't that where the girl Relena Peacecraft is from?" "Yes. Miss Relena is promoting pacifism, and many of the world's nations are following her lead." Noin explained. "But Romefeller would not just sit there and watch as more people are leaning toward pacifism. That's why I need to build a defence line for the kingdom." "You're working for Sanc Kingdom then?" Duo thought for a moment. "Sorry, sis. I'd like to help, but I can't leave space just yet. There are still some things I have to take care of here." Noin was disappointed, but she managed a slight smile. "That's alright. I'll just look for the other guys." "Wait, are you looking for the other Gundam pilots?" Duo stopped her from signing off. "If you are, why don't you come over here? There are two pilots other than myself here." He gave her the coordinate of the Winner's resource satellite. "See you soon, sis." He winked.
Throughout the day, Duo was visibly in a good mood, and he whistled a lot. The other two pilots easily noticed it. "Did something good happen, Duo?" The good-natured Quatre asked. "Not yet, but it's definitely coming." Duo grinned. "Just think, I can finally come face to face with my sis!" "Your sister is coming?" Quatre smiled. "I didn't know you have a sister." "Well, she is not really my sister." Duo scratched his head. "She took care of me when I was in a L2 orphanage. I met her unexpectedly when I was on Earth." "Is it safe for her to come here?" Heero asked. The Gundam pilots were high on the wanted list of Romefeller. "Don't worry, Heero. She isn't an enemy. She said she worked for the Sanc Kingdom." "The Sanc Kingdom?" Quatre said. "I heard that the Romefeller is not very happy with the total pacific movement they brought on among the world's nations." "Yeah, my sis is building the defence system for the country." "What's her name?" Quatre asked. "Er..." Duo grimaced. "I don't know." "What?" Quatre couldn't help but yell out. The voice of the secretary came through the intercom at the moment. "Mr. Quatre, there is a visitor here to see Mr. Duo." "Send her in, please." Quatre replied. Duo sat up straight in the chair, visibly nervous. Heero leaned against the wall with his eyes shut as if nothing could interest him. Quatre kindly patted Duo on the back to calm the braided boy down. The room fell silent for a few minutes, then the door opened. "Welcome, miss. I am Duo's friend, Quatre Winner." The Arabian warmly greeted the dark-haired woman with deep blue eyes. "Nice to meet you. I am Lucrezia Noin." She smiled. "Noin?!" Both Quatre and Heero, who jerked his eyes open to look at the comer, cried out. "Is something wrong?" Noin asked carefully, then she saw the boy by the wall. "Heero!" "You know Heero?" Duo was taken off guard by the sudden reaction from the other two pilot. "So, your name is Lucrezia. I finally know your name." "She goes by Noin." Surprisingly, it was Heero who answered. "Heero, is she the person Dr. J mentioned on the note?" "How did you know her, Heero?" Two questions popped out from Quatre and Duo simultaneously. Noin blinked a few times, trying to understand the situation. "Did I miss something?" Heero signalled her to sit down. "I met Noin while under training back in L1. When she left for Earth, Dr. J promised her a mobile suit if she proves herself worthy." The two questions were answered by his simple reply. "What note?" Now it's Noin's turn to get puzzled. "I found a set of blueprints for a mobile suit, and a note is attached to the prints saying that the suit is designed for you." Quatre explained. Noin's eyes widened. "For me?" Quatre nodded. "I'll show you." He proceeded to lead her out of the room, but Heero stopped him. "We'll have time to do that later. Let's hear what Noin has to say first." "You're right." Quatre settled back down on the couch. With all three pairs of eyes set on her, Noin recounted the situation on Earth between the Sanc Kingdom and its promotion of total pacifism, and the Romefeller. She explained why she was in space and asked for their help to defend the Sanc Kingdom. After some silence, Quatre looked at Noin. "I'd like to go with you to Earth, Miss Noin." He turned to his companion. "What about you, Heero?" Heero considered for some time before he replied. "I'll go, since I don't have anywhere that I prefer to go. I'll help you, Noin." "Thank you." Noin said gratefully. "Aren't you going, Duo?" Quatre asked. "Nah, I can't just leave Hilde here alone." Duo waved his hand. "Besides, I have works to do out here." Quatre nodded understandingly. He turned to Noin. "Now that everything's settled, I'll show you your suit." With that, he led the way out, and all three followed.
"This is... my suit?" Noin looked up at the majestic Gundam. "Yes." Quatre smiled, handing her the blueprints. Being a mechanic herself, Noin could gain a better understanding of the suit by looking at the blueprints. She saw the note and read it. "Agapé..." She glanced at the suit once more. "Zero System?" "Do you know what it is?" Duo asked, uncertain about the System himself. Noin nodded. "I heard that it's a cockpit system designed for the first Gundam, Zero, and that it enhances the pilot's combat ability, but I've never encounter one so far." "You are pretty close." Quatre said. "How did you know about the Zero System?" "I worked and studied with a mechanic who was involved in the designed of Zero." "Howard?" Duo exclaimed, unable to believe it. "I didn't know he is that good." "Before you pilot the suit, you'll need to go through some training first." Heero said. "For the Zero System?" Noin asked. Heero nodded and walked out the hangar. "Follow me." When the two were left behind, Duo shook his head. "I didn't know Heero has a human side in him. He is so nice to Noin. Why isn't he ever nice to me for once?" Quatre only smiled. "Miss Noin has a special character, and those around her are attracted and somehow calmed by her presence. It's hard to believe that she is a soldier, just like us." "Well," Duo started walking toward the exit and concluded. "Noin is, after all, my sis."
For the next few days, Noin remained at the resource satellite with the pilots. At the end of the third day, she came out from the training room looking calm. "I see you've mastered it." Heero commented. "Yeah, and I am ready to return to Earth." Noin nodded. "I have a feeling Romefeller is going to strike pretty soon." "One last thing before we leave." Heero looked toward the direction of the hangar and where the Gundam was. "Bring Agapé, but only use it when it's absolutely necessary. The appearance of a new Gundam would surely enrage Romefeller and give them an excuse to wage a war against you." "I understand." Noin replied solemnly. "Let's go then. Destination, Earth." Quatre announced.
When Noin's carrier arrived at the Sanc Kingdom spaceport, Princess Relena was waiting for them. Everyone could see that she was beaming with joy and happiness. Relena curtsied when the two pilots came into the room. "I am Relena Peacecraft, and I welcome you to Sanc Kingdom. It is a pleasure to meet you." Quatre bowed slightly. "I am Quatre Raberba Winner, and this is Heero Yuy." Heero did not say anything. He only gazed at the girl before him, the same one he had threatened to destroy. But things were different now. He would be protecting her. Outside the Palace, Noin stood looking at the grand Palace bathing in the brilliance of sun set. "I hope I am doing the right thing." "You are, Miss Noin." Pargen's voice emerged from behind. "Thank you. I've never seen Miss Relena being this happy after she reigned the kingdom." "Pargen." Noin turned to face the old butler. "Any news while I was gone?" "Miss Relena and Miss Dorothy had a couple exchanges during classes. Miss Dorothy is still holding her opinion of battles and wars against Miss Relena, but Miss Relena does not seem to mind. She is determined to correct Miss Dorothy's thinking." Pargen recounted. "As for Romefeller, they seem to be ignoring us for now. Their main target at the moment is the Treize Faction, and battles are going on worldwide between both groups. From what I've heard, Treize Faction is losing." "If that's the case, then Luxembourg will no doubt turn into a battlefield soon." Noin frowned. "We can't let Luxembourg fall. They are the last line of defence before Romefeller takes over everything. His Excellency Treize has that much influence on people that if he dies, people would lose faith and surrender to the tyranny of Romefeller." "What do you plan to do about it?" "I..." Noin bit her lip. "I wish I can help, but Romefeller would definitely attack us soon after. I can't leave Sanc." She pondered under her breath. "I wonder what Heero would do." Pargen sighed. "I guess it can't be helped... You've already done too much for the Sanc Kingdom and Miss Relena, it would be unfair to ask you to do more." Noin looked up at the sky upon hearing this. "Pargen, I will live as a shadow of this kingdom." The old man only looked at the courageous young woman, and sighed for her unthanked for efforts and sacrifices. Unknown to all, behind the corner of the Palace stood a girl who took in everything that were happening. The girl turned and walked toward the dormitory provided by Sanc for the students. On the way, she chuckled softly. "Welcome to Earth, Heero Yuy and Quatre Raberba Winner. Welcome to the soldiers' paradise." She stopped and glanced back toward the Palace. "Miss Relena, your knights have finally arrived, but will they be enough to guard the glass kingdom?" She smoothed her forked eyebrow with one finger and continued her walk. "My, what a splendid battle it's going to be!"
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