Go On
By
Captain Anonymous

Trowa sat across from Midii at the table, glancing at her two youngest brothers as they wolfed down their dinner. The night before, Aunt Cathy had made some her famous soup, needless to say, as much as they loved their Aunt Cathy, no one went back for seconds. Catherine had since taken in Midii's brothers, helping as much as she could to help with them.
Midii's brother's got up from the table. "We're done Midii. Can we go watch T.V.?"
Midii nodded approvingly, "After you clear your plates."
Trowa smiled slightly as they cleared the dishes from the table. It reminded him of the way Catherine had always used to get on his case about helping out, about his manners.
Midii picked up her glass of wine and took a sip, glad that her Trowa were now alone. "I talked to Sylvia again yesterday." Trowa said, "What was new with her? Its been a week since you talked to her last." Midii smiled, ever since Trowa had resigned, he seemed to remember every little detail of what she had told him. It was nice to see him not half asleep from over work. But now he had far more time on his hands, he tried to keep himself busy.
Midii put the glass of wine down, and looked serious. She said with a lump in her throat,
"Well, Mitchell got his discharge a few days ago."
Trowa almost dropped his fork. "Did he resign?"
Midii shook her head, "No, he got a medical discharge."
Trowa sat silently for a moment, he knew exactly why Mitchell had been discharged.
He seemed worried that he wouldn't be taking it well. "How is he taking it?"
Midii smiled, "Sylvia said that he's doing fine. That's good news for him at least."
Trowa nodded, "I'm glad to hear that."
Midii said, "They'll probably move up there plans for Europe even sooner now. I'm glad that they'll be all right. I've always worried about Joel, after what happened to him during the war."
Trowa smiled, "When the time comes, I'm sure the three of us can make it for the wedding." He was glad his friend was all right.

Midii and Trowa walked into the living room, where Midii's younger brothers were sitting in front of the T.V. Trowa and Midii sat together on the couch, looking at the flickering images on the screen. After a time, Midii stood up, "I'm going to go check on Marie."
Trowa got up and followed Midii into the dark room, with only the small night light glowing. Midii looked down at Marie she was asleep. She always slept after eating. Her hair had been coming in, the same shade of blonde hair her mother had.
Trowa came into the room behind Midii, and kissed Midii on the neck. Midii could feel Trowa's hand touch hers, as they worked there fingers together. Trowa rested his head on Midii's shoulder.
Midii whispered, "Are you all right Trowa."
Trowa closed his eyes, "I'm fine. Soon Midii, soon."

-------

Ralph woke up in a cold sweat, feeling the air around him. Another nightmare. He could still see the remains of the battleship Libra, and the horrors that went on inside of it after the Peacemillion crashed into it. The way the blood of the floated around the control rooms, and the bodies of the White Fang soldiers that didn't get there helmets and suits on. After the Peacemillion rammed the ship, Ralph and the other surviving soldiers that had been assigned to the main cannon struggled to get out. As they climbed out of the wreckage, Ralph contacted Quinze about the situation. He told Ralph that he was going to ram the Libra into earth, and end the battle. Before Ralph left, he grabbed the battered picture of him and Chris that he kept as his control station. Quinze said he was going leave the bridge, to find the five scientists, to stop them from interfering. Damn them, damn the Gundams, they were so close. The White Fang was gone, Quinze was dead, Peacecraft was dead.
Chris put her hand on Ralph's arm, "You were screaming, are you all right Ralph?"
Ralph looked up at Chris, seeing her long blonde hair falling over her shoulders, she looked so lovely. "It was......it was nothing Chris."
Ralph could feel Chris move her fingers along his shoulder, carefully massaging the wounded area. It still hurt like hell. Ralph moved his hand up and felt Chris's arm, to where she was wounded, carefully going around the scar.
"I've been thinking Ralph."
Ralph looked at her.
"Maybe we should go back up to the colonies. Mrs. Relena said that she would be more then happy to get us jobs and settled on a colony."
Ralph closed his eyes, "I guess now there really isn't any reason to stay on the earth, is there."
"We really don't have anywhere to go home to, but I thought that it would be easier to leave here, and go back to colonies. It might someday seem like home."
Ralph could feel the pain in his shoulder, his mission on earth was over. There was no chance that he would be able to rebuild his organization. There were too few survivors of the White Fang or other organizations. Besides, he had something more important, he had forgotten, that now he had someone to protect. He had let his mind get so wrapped up with avenging the death of everyone who had been killed on his home colony, that he didn't protect Chris. He was going to make that mistake again.
"We're orphans Chris, but your right, it might be better that way. Chris, I'm sorry. I won't fight any more. There are things in this life more important. The one I love." He smiled slightly at Chris, looking at her as she looked slightly embarrassed. Ralph felt that he never told Chris enough how he felt about her.
Chris smiled, feeling Ralph's warm skin against her hands. "Thank you Ralph. We've managed to stay together through all this, we'll stay together now."
It didn't seem to matter now to Chris about the people that had died. She still loved her mother and father, keeping them alive in her memory. But Ralph seemed more important to her now, he was alive, and it didn't seem to be worth the cost of his life to die for the dead. Chris learned to accept that her parents and her home colony were gone, although she still felt the loss, the death one former Alliance officer wouldn't bring any of them back, just add another causality to the growing list of dead.
Ralph had felt the same way, he didn't want to fight anymore. He smiled as he and Chris drifted off to sleep. He was with Chris again, just like Trowa was with that girl, Johnnie's sister, Ralph couldn't remember her name. They had both found someone. They both wanted to be like the other, both taken different paths, but seemed now to be at the same end. Ralph couldn't help but think of the irony. He wondered if he would ever see Trowa. He knew Trowa would get by, that was enough.

-----

Catherine walked down the hall after getting home, it was after midnight. Sitting in a corner was Johnnie, looking out into the darkness blankly. Catherine said, "It seems like I never see you any more."
Johnnie stood up, "I haven't been around much, I figured you didn't want to see me."
Catherine looked down, "Maybe we should talk about it."
"What the hell is there to talk about. You loved him, and then I killed him in cold blood. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, my hands will never be cleaned of that sin."
Catherine closed her eyes, "I don't hate you for what you've done. From what Midii has told me, you became a mercenary to take care of your brothers. But why, now that there is peace, did you have to kill."
Johnnie sighed deeply, "A lot of people think now that the war is over, that all the problems in the world are solved. Well, the wars are all over now, and we still needed the money. Don't you think I tried to find something else? I tried, but nothing had the money we needed. So I decided to follow in the family tradition. Since Kurt wasn't asking too many questions, and needed the help, I decided to go along with him."
Catherine stood silent.
"I didn't........I didn't want to have to kill anyone, but if I was caught, I couldn't do anything for my brothers. I had to fight, so they would a better life. That's why, that's why I did it. I could have killed Trowa, the one my sister loves. I'm not proud of what I've done. I'm not asking for any forgiveness, I don't deserve it. Maybe it helps knowing, that he didn't die at the hands of someone who did it for no reason. Regardless of why, I never should have pulled the trigger."
Catherine could see Johnnie's face in the pale light, she could see the tears in his eyes, he was trying hold them back, but Catherine could tell that he was at the breaking point. Part of him reminded her of how Trowa had been during the war, when she first met him, he seemed so cold, and at one point was ready to kill himself. He would go out and fight, keep on killing, there seemed to be an end of the bloodshed. How many more, would have to die, how many more graves in the cemeteries would there be. Catherine remembered when she found Trowa, after his duel in space, after he had lost his memory. He seemed like Johnnie did now, lost and tired of all this. She had helped Trowa, even after everything he had done.
"I forgive you for what you have done. I don't believe what you did was in any way right, but its not worth causing any more pain over."
Johnnie sat silently, he nodded slightly. Catherine stood near him for moment. Johnnie was lost in his thoughts. Was it still possible for him to love Marlene, after he took the one someone close to him loved? There were no answers.

--------


Lady Une looked over the file on her desk. "Colonel Townsend, I still would rather that you would have consulted the other members of the command staff, before granting Lt. Barton his discharge."
Townsend stood at attention, "Lt. Trowa Barton was assigned to my command, and I was in my authority to grant him that. He submitted the proper papers, and I saw nothing wrong with that. It was no different then discharging any other officer who requested it."
Lady Une looked away from the papers, "Lt. Barton is a special case, I think an effort should at least have been made to keep him with in our ranks."
Townsend said, "Because he was a Gundam pilot? They have been excellent soldiers. But I don't think we should continue to rely on them like have done in the past."
"Count, you must remember that the majority of the ace pilots and field officers from the Alliance, OZ and Romafeller were killed or since left the service. The Gundam pilots give us a symbol, that many fear and respect. We need them as unifying force."
Townsend looked above Lady Une, not making eye contact. "One day, the Gundam pilots won't be around. They can't fight on forever. Eventually we'll have to get by without them. There will be others to keep fighting for peace."
Townsend paused for a moment, before going on, "With all the sacrifices they have made for peace, the least that could be done for them was to allow them to get on with their lives. They deserve a chance more then any one else in this world to have a normal life."
Lady Une said, "I can understand your views on the subject, but with cuts in our funding, we are having problems keeping experienced field officers in our ranks. I the future, I'd like it if you consulted me about such decisions."
Townsend said flatly, "Understood."
"I know your force is short on officers."
"Yes, without Trowa Barton and Joel Mitchell, I've only one field officers. I've got a decent number of enlisted personnel, to keep the unit in check, but I'm down to one officer, Lt. Norton."
"I'll be assigning Captain Harrow, and the remains of his unit your group. Any objections?"
"No objections."
"Good, I'll be out of the office for the next week with my daughter, I'm sure you can handle the paperwork in the meantime, your dismissed."
Lady Une watched as Townsend left the room. She glanced down at Trowa's papers, something caught her eye. A familiar name, one that she had long since thought was buried. It was impossible. Under the insurance policy information, a name had been changed last year, a recent change. Lady Une closed the folder and placed it in her desk. Maybe she survived the war after all.
Townsend walked down the hall towards his office. Both Barton and
Mitchell were gone, and out of the service. Townsend was happy for the both of them, due to the problems in the Preventer agency, it seemed that things were not getting better. Mitchell had been a Captain at the end of the war, his rank was transferred over when he became a Preventer. Three years had passed and he was never promoted, even after he took over for Ordway. Townsend had never heard of any Preventer soldier or officer being promoted, except for those killed in battle. Seemed odd, now they were safe, part of him wanted them to be back in the unit. Seems every soldier leaves sooner or later, the halls were dark, they seemed empty.

To be continued.