1 Nov 2000
DISCLAIMER: All Gundam Wing characters are property of Sunrise, Bandai Visuals, Sotsu Agency, and Asahi TV. This work is not written for profit, but for entertainment purposes only.
PAIRINGS: 6X9 AND 13X6
WARNING: serious Zechs brooding, symbolism
After leaving Treize, Zechs had simply walked, heedless of where he was heading. His mind was crowded with competing thought, warring urges, and rather gloomy sense of foreboding. It seemed that either way he went, towards Noin or towards Treize, he was disappointing, hurting, even *failing* someone.
When he finally looked up from watching his feet hurry along the dirt path he was on, he immediately stopped moving. He was in a little used area of the palace grounds, somewhat wild, and hard up against the gentle hills that formed the backdrop of the royal residence.
A strange sense of the surreal permeated the place and for several moments Zechs felt as though he'd lost all sense of direction. Then he caught sight of what looked like a stone fence through the trees. Moving towards it , he pushed through thick foliage and came out in a small clearing that glowed a soft green in the dappled light.
The stone wall he'd seen was flanking an old wooden gate, both of them standing roughly 8 feet in height.
/It's a walled garden. One I've obviously forgotten about completely, if I was ever here... although one would think that a place like this wouldn't be forgotten. Just look at all the flowers.../
Indeed, the wall was surrounded by a circular flower bed overflowing with hundreds of deep purple irises that almost throbbed with life, so saturated was their color. The graced the top of slender green leaves, all close against the wall, and seemed to be thriving.
Zechs found himself to be completely enchanted by the place.
/I wonder what it looks like in there?/ he thought as he wandered up to the large wooden door. He tried opening it but even a hard shove didn't budge it. There was a keyhole but he hadn't the faintest idea of what might have happened to the key.
A frown of puzzlement had crossed his even features and he had just stepped back from the gate when a voice came through the woods.
"This is one *seriously* cool place."
The blond man turned and saw Howard walking up the path towards him. The salvage man eyes the gate and then Zechs. "You got the key?"
"No, I'm afraid I haven't," Zechs answered, kneeling down to have a look at the key hole. "Frankly I don't have any memories of this place, although it does have a vague sense of the familiar to me..." He blew dust out of the opening. "Looks like it takes one of those old skeleton keys."
Howard looked thoughtful. "Hang on a minute - I might have something here..."
He began searching his pockets, pulling out cigarettes, a couple of small screwdrivers, a pen, and a tiny metal box. "No, not in there," he frowned and patted his left back pocket. "Aha! There they are!"
The sought after objects turned out to be keys, lots of them in all shapes and sizes, on a simple key chain.
It was Zechs's turn to frown. "Howard what *are* you doing with that many keys?"
"Oh, I just sorta collect 'em. Not in any kind of organized way, mind you, just pick 'em up when I see 'em. The ones I like the look of."
What do you do with them?"
Howard gave a hoarse chuckle. "Nothing, mostly. But once in awhile one'll come in handy. Let me try a couple of these older ones..."
The first three he picked did nothing, but on the fourth try they head a muffled click as the tumblers moved. Looking at each other in sudden delight, they pushed at the door and gradually it came away from the undergrowth around its base and swung slowly inward.
What they saw inside rendered them speechless for a moment. It was a small garden, with several leafy fruit trees, an overgrown pond, and a tiny, exquisite gazebo set in the very middle of it. Although the plants had gone partially wild with neglect, some had obviously thrived, two species in particular: around the gazebo there were dense plantings of pale gold calla lilies, practically glowing against their long, thin leaves. Further out into the garden were renegade roses, a deep jewel red color and rambling wherever it pleased them to go.
At last Zechs moved forward, walking into the place slowly, cautiously, as if he were stepping into a completely alien landscape.
/What is it here? Something familiar... something from a long, long, time ago... very happy... and very sad at the same time... I've *been* here before.../
Howard stepped towards him. "Seems like a really special place - you know, kinda... *sacred* or something... or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about..."
Zechs turned and smiled faintly at him. "No, I think you know what you're talking about, Howard..." He looked back at the gazebo and it's white-gold attendants. "This *is* a special place..."
He took a deep breath and moved to the gazebo, mounting the steps and moving into the small seating area. From here he had a 360 degree view of the garden and as he turned around once, and then twice, a look of comprehension came to his face.
"They brought us here on special occasions..." he said, voice faint in the stillness of the afternoon heat. "For Easter, and Midsummer... and... and my birthday..."
Sinking down onto one of the benches that ringed the inside of the small building, Zechs stared out at the tangled garden, but his gaze was all inward. He looked at the trees and the flowers but he saw the past.
"It was early in spring... more blossoms on the trees than leaves, but the day was warmer than usual... All of us were here," he said, almost seeing the people he remembered there in the garden before him. "My mother was dressed in white, the palest, most delicate material... and my father had given her a little bouquet of lily-of-the-valley..."
The blond man turned to look over his right shoulder. "And there was a swing there," he murmured, pointing to the largest tree, a tall, sturdy ash. "I spent a good hour pushing Relena on it - she wouldn't be convinced to get off of the thing..."
Azure eyes roamed over the small garden building he sat in. "We had a picnic that day... and Relena and I convinced my father to play Blind Man's Bluff... It was perfect..." Zechs was silent for several moments, simply remembering, all of the day's events streaming back into his mind, and all hidden until the right clues helped him put it together.
"I didn't want to leave, when the sun began to go down," he said, his voice becoming quiet. I remember telling my father that it was all too wonderful, and I was worried it would never be that way again... He told me not to be foolish..."
Zechs's eyes closed as a grimace of pain crossed his face. For several moments Howard could only watch as the blond put a hand to his forehead and tried to get himself under better control. He climbed the steps into the gazebo and put a hand on Zechs's shoulder.
"He didn't know, Zechs... no one knew. Not even those of us who had worked with the bastards..."
Zechs nodded, opening his eyes and staring into the depths of the garden. "It was a little over a week later that it all happened... how could I have forgotten..."
Howard gave him a little pat. "You had a few other things to occupy your mind since then," he said. "I'm not surprised at all."
A heavy sigh escaped the blond man. "I begged my father to let me stay here... I felt so... *at home*, I suppose. I didn't want the world coming in to tell me any different..."
Howard took a seat next the Zechs. "Tell me some more about the way it looked," he said. And the two of them sat and talked and watched the sun sink lower in the sky.
Treize was on his way back to the palace for a chat with Relena. He was determined to get a dinner invitation out of the talk and was absorbed in thoughts of how best to do it when he looked up to find the path blocked. By Noin.
"Well, Noin - you're looking very lovely this afternoon. Going someplace special this evening?"
"No," she said tersely. "*I'm* having dinner here with my fiancee. Where are *you* going to go?"
Treize just smiled, remembering how it felt to kiss the blond man. "Care to take a stroll, Noin? I think you and I need to talk..."
End of Part 9
(:./kumiko/rosen9)
