31-Oct-2004
Title: Happiness
Authors: Kimmie
Archive: GW Addiction
Category: sap, angst, POV
Pairings: 1+3
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I mean no harm, I have no money... Stuff like that. Yeah.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: None.
Notes: While I'd like to finish up this "Moments of After War: Soldiers" arc, I think it will stay with me for a while. However, since I know people like *some* sort of conclusion, consider this it until I finally fill in the rest of the blanks that I intend to fill in. So, this falls after "Poster Child", *many* years down the road. And, I cried several times writing this, so, um, yeah. Angst. Not angst galore. Just angst. So, um, enjoy! Heero POV.
Somehow, along the way, I forgot just how much Relena had to do with making me a happily married man.
I have never said that I thought that Relena was a bit too nosy for her own good. But I've thought it over and over again since we were 15. Trowa knows I think it, but only because he sees the agreement on my face when he says it while we're shrouded in blankets and pillows and bedding down for the night. It isn't even really that she's nosy; she merely wants the best for everyone, and is convinced that she is the best person for getting the job done, even if she has to outsource the actual tasks. But it led me to Trowa, so I can't bring myself to ever be upset with her for it.
The years have passed, and they've been good to us all. Duo is married to Relena and their 5 children are beautiful and have the fastest-growing hair that anyone has ever seen.
Wufei and Sally are not married, and never plan to be, but their child is adorable and has the most loving parents anyone could ever hope for. They love each other, but Wufei cannot bring himself to marry again after his first wife died in battle. Sally used to look upset when she realized that there was a piece of Wufei's heart she would never have, but now she realizes that it is a smaller part than she originally thought.
Quatre and August are happy. Quatre is so proud to have children of his own. It was a joy to see him during the days when he was having a daycare center built into the headquarters of Winner Enterprises.
Zechs and Noin are divorced, but they are happy. Zechs remarried to Sylvia Noventa, and they both snuck invitations to the wedding to Trowa and me. Noin attended, and looked upset, but she met Lady Une there, after many years of making sure to avoid her, but they struck up a friendship which looks poised to become something more. If Relena is aware of it, which I'm sure she is, then things will go as they should.
Dorothy has become a quiet woman. She teaches fencing and literature during the week and spends her weekends at home with her cats. She told me once during our reunion picnics that she would have liked to have gotten married, but the only man she ever loved wanted tons of children and she hated them. At the time, she was dancing with flower chains in her hair with Relena and Duo's youngest daughter.
Every year, on Christmas Eve, we get together on Earth for a picnic. It is often indoors, or we're all so bundled up that we can barely move, but it's a chance to celebrate everything that has ever happened to us, and to celebrate knowing each other.
It's the 19th of December and the next picnic is coming up soon, and it will be tough to go to. There have been two deaths since the last picnic. Hilde Schbeiker, a brave girl who nearly had Duo's heart before Relena, died in a freak mech accident. And Zechs and Sylvia's beautiful little girl died of a heart defect. There's a chance that it will be three deaths before the 24th. Trowa's sister, Cathy, is in the hospital, and the doctors aren't sure what's wrong. Trowa is a wreck sometimes, but he has faith in his sister, and he knows enough about death and dying that he'll be okay when she goes. It's the rest of the group we're not sure about.
I never imagined that my life would get to this point. I never thought I would have friends, let alone a husband, and a sort of family. And this is the best family a guy could ever dream of having, even if the Queen does like to mess in everyone's personal affairs.
When my birthday comes, inexact though it may be, I'll be turning 45. I've gotten to the point where my hair is more grey than it is brown, though Trowa still keeps a full head of hair with only a strand or two of white that I'm certain I've caused.
I can think back to my childhood, and even the good days were never so good as this, while the bad days were worse than anything I can think of now. I am happy, and I never thought I'd be allowed to have happiness. But I'm glad that I was led to it, for I certainly wouldn't have found it on my own.
The wars have now truly ended. For the past 5 years, there have been no terrorism incidents on Earth, the colonies, or any of the terraformed areas. The crime rate is lower than anything on record. And I'm honestly happy, just as I've been happy since... since about six months before I got married.
It seems worth it now. I think back to Treize Khushrenada and his plans for it all, and I have to admit that he was right. Everyone wanted some easy fix, and he saw ahead to how it had to go, and he made the right things happen, even after he died. I visit Wufei on the anniversary of Treize's death every year and we get smashed on a couple of bottles of wine of a newer vintage than Treize probably would have partaken of, but a similar style nonetheless. We always get advice from Lady Une on which kind to buy, and she always has us buy a bottle for her, as well. I can only imagine that she has a similar sort of ritual. I've heard she goes to drink with Dorothy, but the rumors can never be confirmed. If they're true, I can only imagine that Relena had something to do with it.
When Relena had her 21st birthday, she admitted to me that she used to stand on cliffsides yelling for me to come and kill her. I'm glad I didn't listen then, just as I'm glad I learned to listen.
Times change, and I've changed with them, but I'm happy. And happiness is the only thing I ever remember feeling was out of reach. When I reached it, it didn't feel as though there was somehow something better out there. I just felt fulfilled, and happy, and that hasn't changed. My life is everything I thought it would never be. And I have to remember to buy Relena a new teddy bear. But I won't buy her a card. She'll just tear it up and throw it in the air, and pregnant women shouldn't have to bend down to pick things up... and I've given Duo enough grief in life that he shouldn't have to do it either.
Owari
(:./jennykim/moments19)
