Rating: PG-13 Lyrics by Jane Siberry Characters and setting not mine
It can't rain all the time
by Beth
9:01 PM October 21st AC195
Rain beat against the windows of the pub, and the customers inside watched the evening news on the small set over the counter.
"Tonight, the terrorists known only as the Gundam pilots have committed yet another atrocity." Tracy Li's face was devoid of her usual smile. Instead the news anchor wore a serious expression that suited the video of flaming destruction that now replaced her image on the screen. "During the attack on the naval base of the OZ organization in Marseilles, France, forty-three military personnel and seventeen civilians were killed, and numerous others injured. We now go to Jack Tessier, who's in the OZ European Headquarters for an on-site report."
"Thank you Tracy!" The man standing in a crowded corridor of the OZ building was much more relaxed than the presenter had been. "As you can see behind me, despite the late hour, OZ is ever-vigilant and even now the crisis management is under way." Indeed, the reporter was being constantly jostled by officials and aides who rushed past without sparing a glance at the camera. "With me is Colonel Une of OZ." The viewpoint of the camera expanded to reveal the severe, bespectacled Lady. "Colonel, how would you comment the Gundams' recent attack?"
"I am lost for words." The woman stared straight at the camera. "Whatever I could say would not match the impact this murder has made on the Earth society. I can only assure you that we in OZ are doing our very best to make sure the murderers are caught. I'm afraid I can't reveal the details of this operation right now."
"Thank you Colonel, now we go to Emil Radiville, who's in Marseilles at the sit of the explosion."
We walked the narrow path,
beneath the smoking skies.
Sometimes you can barely tell the difference
between darkness and light.
The view changed again. Flames filled the screen, flickering to reveal twisted metal walls. The camera's focus moved downwards, revealing black plastic body bags laid in a long neat row just outside the fire's reach. Then the image switched to the new reporter, his face streaked with sweat and what looked like tears.
"The Gundams have struck once again. You just saw all that remains of sixty people that had been alive barely three hours ago. The terrorists have managed to bathe this place in blood and fire..."
"Now isn't that so pleasantly melodramatic?!" one of the drinkers sitting at the bar laughed, his voice shaky with alcohol. "They're getting more poetic every time, huh kid?" he asked the boy sitting next to him.
"Mm-hmm." The boy's violet eyes were riveted to the screen, his face expressionless.
The news program was showing the studio again.
"We have obtained exclusive footage of the incident," Tracy said. Behind her, the shaky home-video played out, flames parting to reveal a metal angel with black bat wings.
Duo's chair clattered to the floor. Heads turned around the pub, but the braided boy was already out the door, vanishing into the still-falling rain.
Do you have faith
in what we believe?
The truest test is when we cannot,
when we cannot see.
Seventeen. That number flashed behind his eyelids, no matter how hard he squeezed them shut. He did not care about the OZ guys... they had been soldiers, and this was a war... but seventeen people died who should have lived.
Seventeen.
He stalked the dark rain-swept alleys like a ghost.
"Did I have a right to make that choice for them?" he whispered, anguish in his hushed voice. "For the Colonies? But what makes them so special? Are the Colony people that better than Earth ones?" He knew that it wasn't the other way either, and that was what he should be fighting for, but the sound of explosions and acrid smell of death still haunted his senses. "By how much? Is there a weight to each soul, a way to balance the ones we save against the ones we kill?"
I hear pounding feet in the,
in the streets below, and the,
and the women crying and the,
and the children know that there,
that there's something wrong,
and it's hard to believe
that love will prevail.
He was so deep in his thought that he didn't notice the boy running his way until the child collided with him, slipping on the wet pavement. His arms steadied the smaller figure - the kid wasn't more than seven years old.
"What's the rush?" the braided pilot grinned with a bit of effort.
The little boy mumbled an apology and twisted away, then took off at a run. Duo stared after him in puzzlement, but turned again when he heard running feet on the pavement. Two other children, no older than the first one, headed his way. They both wore costumes, but while one's was white with white wings attached and a sort of helmet, the other sported a black version of the same outfit. Both kids were soaked to the skin by the rain and visibly enjoying it. They skidded to a stop when they reached the older boy.
"Did anyone come this way?" the boy in the white outfit demanded.
"Why should I tell you?" Duo asked teasingly.
"This is important!" the black-clad child said. She took off her helmet, freeing a mass of golden hair. "We're on a mission!"
"Who are you supposed to be?" the braided boy wondered.
The girl shot him an exasperated look and brandished an L-shaped length of aluminum pipe. "I'm the Gundam Deathscythe, and my brother's Wing!"
"And you're running from OZ soldiers, aren't you?"
"No," the little boy said. "We're running after them! We have to make them free the colonies!"
"Yes, and we'll win too!" the girl trilled. "We've got the cooler weapons!"
Duo found himself chuckling despite his recent low mood. "Thataway," he pointed. "Go kick OZ butt!"
"Thanks! We will!"
He looked at them until they disappeared behind a corner, and he could hear a faint cry of "Prepare to be Gundamized!" in the distance.
Oh it won't rain all the time.
The sky won't fall forever.
And though the night seems long,
your tears won't fall forever.
Only through the eyes of a child can we see the truth.
Duo decided he could take some comfort in the line from a half-remembered book. Perhaps, if they played at piloting Gundams now, they wouldn't have to do the real thing in a few years... after all, that was up to him and his fellow pilots, wasn't it?
He realized it wasn't raining any more.
{FINIS}