Be Good for Lady

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It had been four years since the last of the Eve Wars. The Earth and Colonies had enjoyed relative peace under the watch of the Preventers. The world was rebuilding itself. And even with the return of some former enemies-- some seeking revenge, and some seeking redemption-- things remained, for the most part, stable.

But, inevitably, humanity's autoimmunity flared up eventually.

At first, the Preventers seemed to have the revolt under control. They had become strong, with firm backing and support from the people. But it wasn't long before the power-hungry terrorists turned the fight into a full-scale war.

The suits were the last possible option. Even when their enemies had found a few they had not yet gotten their hands on for disassembling, they held out, not wanting to repeat the history they had already lived through, and fought with old fashioned methods.

But, eventually, it wasn't enough.

The five pilots quickly commissioned and trained their own cadets. The disassembled suits were reassembled and rolled out for use. And before long, a troop was launched into space to combat the new threat to peace.

The pilots, Zechs, Noin, and even Hilde held their own. They were skilled, and it was easy enough for them to fight back. But the new cadets, with barely any training and no experience with mobile suits, were quickly being brought down.

With suits coming back in pieces faster than they could replace them, the Preventers' forces were wearing thin.

He'd been there, watching, keeping an eye on the battle. Whether or not anyone believed him, it was something he'd hoped to never witness again. And when yet another Aries came back with a missing arm and a missing pilot, he couldn't keep himself in his seat by his white knuckles any longer.

It was easy enough to slip into one of the few remaining suits. Many of the agents on site were tending to the injured or attempting to prep more suits for launch. No one noticed the former general shamble his worn-bent body into one of the Aries until the suit had already been loaded onto a shuttle and taken into the air.

It was only one more suit, but it was one suit that remained in the air. It was one more fighter and one more person to instruct novice pilots. It was one more, it was a whole troop more. It was enough to tip the scales back in the favor of the Preventers.

Still, it was a tight battle. Suits were still being shot down, people were still dying. As long as the other party remained in play, it would continue to happen.

It had been enough of fighting for the board. It was time to take the king.

Treize's Aries shot out of the cluster fight that the battle had turned into. No one could understand what he was doing, except Une.

"Treize! Don't you dare!"

"Have any free suits cover me. I'm going for their leader."

"Mr. Treize!"

He knew he'd done nothing to deserve her respect. She knew she could have ordered him back at any moment.

She also knew Treize. And she knew his history.

With knuckles white gripping her command center, she shouted across the communications for troops to break free and keep fire off of Treize. It took mere minutes for him to find the Leader's station, and the suit they were manning. It took a moment and a single shot to initiate the fight.

It took less than a minute for the fight to end.

There was silence over the communications from both sides. For a moment, it seemed as if the entire fight had been paused. Then, when that moment ended, the white flag calls began coming in.

The Preventers on ground base cheered. The fight was over. But Une stayed at her center.

She called for him. Again and again she called him. Nothing. Troops were already returning with surrendered soldiers, and no one had heard from Treize, not even the five or Zechs.

It was hours before a fuzzy signal came in.

"I've always been better in dueling suits. But that wasn't too bad."

A buzz rang out at the base. Recovery was sent off to retrieve his suit. But Une stayed on the line. By this time, it had gotten late. Mari had been brought to her after demanding to see if her caretaker was okay. She was there when the video communication came through.

Red. There was red everywhere. The warning signals had been flashing since the call started. There was blood dripping from his forehead. Sparks spilled from one of the monitors and down over the control panel.

"Mari," he said. "What are you doing there?"

"I told them I wanted to see you!" she said with the same tone that had previously commanded armies. "Are you okay?.... Papa?"

He coughed. More blood painted his lips. "Mari, I want you to do something for me."

"What's that?"

Quivering, he managed a smile. "Be good for Lady, okay?"

Mari's eyes went wide. "What? What do you mean?"

"I love you. Both of you."

The signal didn't end right then. It flashed in and out for several minutes-- several minutes of Mari screaming, crying, demanding they get to him faster, several minutes of Une attempting to hold her back from jumping in a shuttle herself, and several minutes of the former general losing, and catching his breath, before his eyes closed, and he fell completely silent, his breath barely visible in the smoke that had accumulated in the cockpit.

It was only when the signal had completely gone out, and Duo and Wufei took over holding back Mari, that Une let her body start shaking.

---

So there's a bit of feels I've wanted to do for ages. Hope you all enjoy.

Also yes, the pictures of Wufei and Zechs are official art. I got lazy.

Timelapse: youtu.be/EKrSGDikGrc

Clean/no filter version: 

Treize Khushrenada, Mariemaia Khushrenada, and Lady Une are from Gundam Wing.