One Sweet Day
Song performed by: Mariah Carey & Boys 2 Men
Songfic by: Firefury

    Treize Khushrenada sighed and stared at his computer screen. It had been some time since he had last heard from Lady Une, and he feared the worst had befallen her. No one knew for certain if the colonel was dead or alive. Unseen to those around him, Treize was almost ill with worry for the one he loved, whom he had caused so much suffering. He loved her dearly, wanted to apologize to her, and she was gone from him, possibly... probably... forever.

    He had missed his Lady the minute she left for space to take charge of OZ's space operations, but had tried to hide it so that she wouldn't be distracted from her duty. He hadn't expected Tuberov and his cursed mobile dolls to become such a force within Romafeller so quickly. Silently, Treize cursed Tuberov, his mobile dolls, Duke Dermail, and all those others partly responsible for the way things had turned out. Now he was locked away at Romafeller headquarters while the war escalated all around him. The dankest of prison cells would have seemed like Heaven if only Lady Une was there. To maintain his sanity, the former OZ leader buried himself in other activities, and in constructing the Epyon gundam. Maybe it was out of a desire for revenge on those forces that had taken his Lady away, or maybe as a gift for the gundam pilots, or for Milliardo. No one would ever fully know his reasons.

    Treize glanced up from his computer, feeling someone lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. He glanced around, but his room was empty. Was he going crazy now, on top of everything else that had happened? A gentle breeze filled the room via an open window, laden with the scent of the roses from the gardens below. It seemed to whisper in a hauntingly familiar voice. "Things are proceeding just as you planned..." In an instant the breeze vanished away, leaving Treize to ponder his thoughts alone once more. My dear Lady... please come back to me...

    "Get in touch with the White Fang and tell them we surrender!" Lady Une barked the order, her voice carefully controlled even though she wanted to break down on the spot. Gone... he's gone. Dead... no... The reality of the situation had struck the instant she saw the Tallgeese explode.

    She finally knew, understood the way Treize had worked. He could have opted not to fight with the pilot of 05, the Tallgeese was certainly fast enough to outrun the gundam. Treize had wanted to die with honor... in battle. But why did he have to leave those who cared behind? They'd had plans for the future. Marriage, peace, happiness... Treize didn't even have to fight on the front lines. He could have stayed on MO-II or even Earth and directed the counter attack from there... but he rushed head on to meet the challenge. But I suppose true peace could never be achieved while Treize and Zechs lived...

    That night, as soon as she could, Lady Une had excused herself to be alone. There, in the darkness where she didn't have to maintain any sort of image, the tears finally came. There had been no 'what ifs" to provide false hope. The Tallgeese had been completely destroyed, and Treize hadn't been wearing a flight suit. Even if he hadn't been killed in the blast, he would certainly have died in the silence of outer space. Zechs was dead, or so it was assumed, and the war was over. But at what cost? So many precious lives had been lost or stained, including the one she loved.

    Sprawled out on her bed a few hectic days later, the tears were still coming. She wasn't sure how she would cope with the loss, and she could only bury herself in work for so long. It was raining outside, cold and unforgiving. This late in the year, the gardens were desolete, the roses whithered. A sorrowful atmosphere to amplify the former OZ colonel's regret and sadness. "What will I do now that you've gone ahead, Treize?" she whispered to the silence, her voice hoarse from crying. She felt someone gently stroke her hair, felt a presence. "I'll be waiting for you. Please come back to me, Lady." Then it was gone, possibly imagined to begin with.

    Lady Une quietly set the bouquet down before the gravestone, feeling a fresh round of tears stinging her eyes. But she didn't let them fall. It was time for the tears to end, time for her new purpose to be fulfilled. She had been placed in charge of the newly formed Preventers organization, a group which would help maintain the peace so many had died for. It was time she got on with her life, and tears would hardly honor Treize's memory. Instead, she would continue to fight for the peace he had died to achieve, and make sure that he had not died in vain. Smiling slightly, she turned and walked away, back to the living world, back to her new friends who would work just as hard for peace. The breeze picked up slightly in a silent sigh, ruffling the roses in the bouquet ever so slightly.