Aim for the Sky; Part 1
Good GOD, it's my first het fic. Run! Run for your lives! *ahem*
Well, there's also a healthy helping of yaoi. Come on, you can't
expect me to go cold turkey, can you? I mean, *really.*
Title: Aim Towards the Sky (A 91 Pairings fic)
Author: Sparcck
Posted: 8 Jan 2001
Rating: PG-13
Archive: Please! If I've given you permission, go nuts. If not, just
drop me a line and let me know where it's going.
Genre: Angst, shonen ai, yaoi, het (eep!) [13x6, 13xR]
Warnings: Yaoi, angst, Treize possibly acting like a sissy boy.
Spoilers: Um, hm, episodes 3 and 6 for now.
Summary: When Treize unexpectedly encounters Relena at a meeting of
Romefellar, all of his dreams of a life for him and Zechs finally
come crashing down. But in pursuing Relena, is he punishing Zechs or
himself?
Disclaimer: Do I own them? Of course not. Will you sue me? I hope
not. All characters, names, places, etc. belong to Bandai, Sunrise,
and Sotsu Agency. I'm not making any money off of them, please don't
sue me, and so on.
I love Granddaddy! Aim Towards the Sky is the beautiful, last track
from The Sophtware Slump.
Note: Yes, yes, it's unbetaed... again. My only true wish is that
Treize isn't coming off like some sissy nancy-man. Look, he's just
cultured, dammit. *Cultured*
Feedback: All comments, criticisms, flames, marriage proposals, and
death threats should be sent, with care, to sparcck@hotmail.com.
Aim Towards the Sky
(1/3)
So you'll aim towards the sky
and you'll rise high today;
fly away, far away,
far from pain...
-"Aim Towards the Sky", Granddaddy
Even through that damn mask I could always tell what Milliard was
thinking.
I apologize. *Zechs.* He would never let me call him by his given
name.
Once, he did. But I suspect it was only because he wasn't in a
position where he could argue with me. Of course, I did pay dearly
for the transgression: he didn't visit my bed again for a full two
weeks.
And I thought that was as lonely as it could get. I didn't
anticipate what his full, voluntary absence would do. I'm not sure
if it was because I underestimated my feelings for him, or if I
underestimated the extremes to which he would go to find his own
peace.
That mask -- I understood why he wore it, but it was a constant
reminder that he would not be by my side forever. Still, when he
said he would leave when his mask broke, I had managed to convince
myself that he meant the man known as Zechs would leave, and I would
finally know the true Milliard with no conditions.
"Forgive me sir," Une had said. "This can come to no good end."
She was right, of course. She was always right, when it came to me,
anyway. She knew me better than I knew myself, and she didn't have
any foolish misconceptions about my relationship with Zechs. And she
was always there, to pick up the pieces when he left my room at night.
How did I get so weak? I just wanted everything to be beautiful.
*He* was beautiful. So I gave him everything, until I had nothing
left he wanted.
That morning he called to confirm the Gundams, I pretended he was
going into battle for me, when I knew very well it was because he
couldn't stay away. Not when he was finally confronted by an enemy
he could fight honorably. He always hated the subtle way I fought --
he believed in actual battles, while I tired to win with words.
And with deceit. No, Zechs, I didn't always fight fairly. But I
never pretended I did.
"Do you want to go?" I asked him, cutting him off during his
analysis of a battle plan.
There was a stunned silence on the other end of the call while he
processed that, and I tore my eyes away from his, sighting down the
barrel of my gun at the small targets in front of me. I was thinking
of him when I went out there that morning, brining along the comm
unit to wait for his call.
He always teased me for my morning target practice. "Antiquated
weapons," he had said once. "Next thing you know, you'll be getting
a mobile suit fitted with one."
"Ah, Zechs, always the modernist; no taste for the old ways," I
sighed.
He leaned down to gently kiss me, his tongue running along my lower
lip. "Too many tastes spoil life, Treize. I would rather savor only
one."
And who was I to argue with him?
He still hadn't spoken, but his lips moved, a sound something like a
question spilling out.
"It's written all over your face," I said softly.
A pheasant, coaxed into believing it was safe, flew from behind the
rows of targets, and I sighted and pulled the trigger in one move. I
watched as it fell to the earth with barely a sound, its feathers
drifting lazily in its wake.
"Shoot them down for me, Zechs."
"Treize."
I turned to look at him. It wasn't a question, it was a
confirmation.
/You understand, don't you lover?/
/Yes, Milliard, I do./
I nodded and a small grin quirked his lips. He lifted one hand to
his forehead. "Sir," he said crisply, and cut the connection.
There was a strange tightening in my chest, and my trigger finger
trembled slightly. The pheasant had landed on one of the target
platforms, and the thin metal targets continued to raise and lower,
two of them smeared with blood.
A heard a noise behind me, a twig snapping. "Lady," I said.
"Yes, Your Excellency?"
"I believe you were right. This situation..."
"Sir?"
I turned to face her and smiled. "Nothing, Lady. I have tea ready
in the parlor." I stepped closer and raised a hand to her face,
brushing over her cheek lightly. "Join me?'
Her face softened minutely. "Sir."
*
I suppose I expected Zechs would get in contact with me when I sent
Une to kill Relena Darlian. I had heard the rumors about Zechs and
the Peacecrafts, and the new whispers that had been floating around
since Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian's death.
Like I've stated, I was not above deceit to achieve my goals. Not
even when it came to Zechs.
When Lieutenant Noin called to ask me to spare Relena's life, I felt
half-vindicated and half-betrayed. I held my hand to stop her words
as my first reaction coursed through my body, anger racing along my
veins.
/How dare he send someone else to ask me something like this?/
But then I considered it. It seemed Zechs was not above a modicum of
foul play himself.
"Go ahead, Noin. You were saying?"
She continued, a little softer now. "He asked me to get into contact
with you. I know this is a large favor, but it's really important to
him." She paused.
I smiled knowingly, but without mirth. "Lieutenant?"
"I don't know if you knew, Your Excellency, but there is one other
Peacecraft alive. And I'm sure he wouldn't want her killed just when
he's found her again."
"I understand, Noin. If you'll hold on just one moment?"
"Yes, sir."
I changed the frequency, tuning into Une's craft just as she was
giving the order to go out after the girl herself. "Lady Une, cancel
your mission. Return to base immediately"
Her eyes were wide behind her rimmed glasses. "But Colonel Treize--"
"I've decided to let Darlian's daughter live." I expected a bit of
resistance. But just as I would do anything for Zechs, Une would do
anything for me, good excuse or no.
/Are these the battles you dislike so, Milliard?/
"But Colonel, the mission was to--"
"Lady, we were met by an unexpected enemy. Don't think of it as a
failure; return immediately." I smiled at her now, but she saw
through it.
/So many masks, no, Milliard? Can you not see through mine like she
can? Like I can see through yours?/
"Right." She closed her eyes, her mouth tightening. There would be
more pieces for her to pick up tonight when she got back. "I
understand."
As always, she waited for me to sign off first.
I went back to Noin and stood, looking away so she couldn't see my
face.
"Thank you very much, Colonel Treize," she said, lifting her hand to
her head. "I'm sure Lieutenant Zechs will be pleased." Her eyes
softened at the mention of his name and a smile curved her lips.
/Do you also have someone to pick up the pieces then, Milliard? How
are we so much alike yet continue to fail to find common ground?/
I looked out the window. "Zechs has always gone out of his way to
help me out."
/Do you know, too, Noin, like Une knows? Or do you delude yourself,
like I do?/
I continued, my voice trained to be even by years of smooth-talking.
/Despicable, Zechs, don't you think? Even now, I can't show my
anger./ "Saving Relena is the very least I can do to thank him for
all his efforts."
/Is that the ground we stumble on? Your passion versus my reserve?
Could we not reconcile it?/
"Please," I said, turning now to face her. "Give my regards to
Lieutenant Zechs."
/Was that a flicker in your eyes, Noin?/
"Yes, sir." She cut the connection.
The anger roiled just below the surface, but I pushed it away. I
opened the french windows and sat on the ledge, my hands clenching
and unclenching in my lap. "So," I said out loud. "The rumors were
true. He still has a remaining blood relative." I paused and started
unblinking into a sky that was the same color as his eyes. "He could
have said something."
There was a flutter of wings and I instinctively held out a finger as
the two love birds that I had let go that morning came back. They
landed and nuzzled each other, one letting go of a few trilling
notes.
"I see. You'd rather stay here, then?" I asked. I turned and urged
them to fly further into the room, watching as they circled the room
once -- smoothly, together -- before perching on a chair back.
/Not passionate enough for you, was I?/
The anger finally boiled over and a hoarse cry erupted from my throat
as I swung an arm out, knocking over the vase of white roses on my
desk.
~/"White roses, Treize?"
"In some cultures, white roses symbolize an eternal bond."
"And in some, they are for death."/~
The vase smashed on the floor, shards exploding outwards in a perfect
circle.
The lovebirds, startled, took flight and went out the window, parting
ways just past the sill.
"I think it may be our death, Milliard."
I crushed a bloom under my boot heel and settled back into the chair
behind my desk again, waiting for Une to arrive.
----------
Continued in part 2.
Yeah, see, this is actually for 13xR, but you can't see that part
yet,
cos it's not done. :) Soon, though, soon.
Send me feedback! Sparcck@hotmail.com
--Sparcck--
http://members.nerve.com/sparcck
"Doors sure are important to nerds."
-D. Coupland
"Why does everyone say my name like it means 'Shut up'?"
-Jubilee, X-Men #10