02-Jan-1999
A Sylvia Noventa story. I think she needs to be written about, so I wrote a short little one about her. It's non-yaoi since it's a character study, very short. I'm sorry if I got a few historical facts wrong, but this is what I remember from reading the newspaper. I think Field Marshal Noventa's her grandfather, please tell me if I'm wrong. She was probably wasn't thinking of this so in depth, but it does give her some background for doing so.
Standing over my grandfather's grave, I thought about Heero Yuy. People, when they hear about my meeting with him, always ask me why I didn't shoot him. They said I was well within my rights to do so, that he'd not only killed my grandfather, but others as well. What kept me from shooting him?
"What was today's world history lesson?" Grandfather was drinking ice tea on the porch in the back of the house. He was visiting for a few days before jetting to another military base.
"It was about South Africa during the late twentieth century. Tomorrow, we get to talk about South America. I can't wait until summer vacation."
"That so? I believe it's hot enough already."
"There's something I don't understand."
"What?"
"Why were they forgiven?"
"Who?"
"After the dismantling of apartheid, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa were allowed to offer pardons to people who fully confessed their involvement in horrible crimes. Why? Shouldn't everyone responsible been put on trial? Shooting protesters in the back as they run away... Using burning rubber tires to kill people... "
Her grandfather sighed. "It's so hard to explain, but I'll try. I believe they did that so the truth would come out. For peace to flourish, there has to be truth. There has to be closure. People want to know what happened to their loved ones and why, they want to know where the bodies are. So the dead can be buried in the rightful graves."
"It can't be just that."
"No, it's not just that. The people responsible had to fully confess to their crime, to fully acknowledge their guilt before the people they hurt. They couldn't deny what they'd done. In a way, it's an apology for all the things they've ever done," he said. "But the people who felt no remorse, who claim they were right in killing, those are the people who were punished. However, in countries where things were swept under the table, things were left to fester as people didn't know what happened to their children, who was responsible for their disappearance, why certain things were done. People would keep pushing for the truth even if they knew the perpetrators would probably never see the inside of a jail cell. After all, the word ‘sorry' is a pretty powerful word. It's the one thing an aggrieved nation demands and the one thing the other nation is often hesitant to give. It is not a trivial thing."
"Grandfather." He's terribly excited, I thought, a drop of sweat was on his temple.
He took a napkin and mopped his brow. "Ah, I've gotten myself over-excited."
"What's wrong?"
He was quiet for a moment, then he said, "I have the feelings that I will pay for my own crimes."
"What crimes?"
"Standing by while I let my government treat the colonies this way. Letting things go this far. I will do something before it gets any farther. Even so, I wonder if I'll be facing a judge or a Truth and Reconciliation commission in the future to confess fully my part in all this."
"I'm sure that neither will happen."
I could hear the remorse in his words though his voice was flat. I could tell by the weight of the gun that it was loaded. He had meant what he said. He truly expected me to take his life. I cursed his stupidity. Making me part of the bloodshed would do nothing but cause me even more pain than I was already feeling, that fool! It was then that I realized why I couldn't kill him. Not simply because I didn't want to kill another human being but because this was the only way. I was his Truth and Reconciliation commission and it was up to me to give him a pardon, so something more than endless hatred could end.
If I had shot him then, how differently things would've been. I try not to think about it. The air has suddenly turned cold; I should go back in the car.
The End
(:./mk/reason)
