Redemption
Author’s Notes: Okay, here’s the deal – I have no idea if anyone is going to read this. It’s a Gundam X fic, and as far as I can tell, Karasu and I are the only people who like Gundam X. But for those of you who are reading these Author’s Notes, presumably you have an intent to read the story. So here’s a few things:
One: This fic is based off the premise that the Frost brothers survive. Actually, that’s not a premise. In the very last shot, as they’re panning out from where Garoad is babbling to that guy about Newtypes, you can see the two of them standing there. You can tell it’s them because you can see Olba’s rather distinctive hair and jacket. Why the writers did this is completely beyond me. How they survived was also beyond me, so I felt it was necessary to write a fic about it. ^_^;;;
Two: I literally have no idea how to spell most of these people’s names. There’s multiple spellings for everybody in the show. Roybea, Roby, Robbie. Witts, Wittsu, Witz. I’ve seen everything from Garoad to Jared. I swear, nobody in this has a name that can be spelled. So most of my spellings are by ear or from the subtitles I have, so don’t get on my case about it. Sound it out and you’ll figure out who I mean.
Three: Rotating first person point of view. Pay attention. There will be a quiz later.
If you read this, please let me know. I don’t even care if you give me feedback. I’m just curious as to whether or not anyone’s going to read it.
Part One
This can’t be happening.
But it is. Ashtaron crashes into what’s left of the moon with incredible force, right next to where the satellite used to be. The satellite we tried to use. I feel pain lance through every cell in my body, and I can’t help screaming. Finally, Ashtaron skids to a halt, leaving me out of breath and near terrified.
I have to take a minute simply to gather myself and analyze the situation. Ashtaron is destroyed; I think only my space suit is keeping me from being killed by the vacuum. I’m lucky it didn’t tear.
But how lucky can I really be? If neither niisan or I have flying capabilities, we will die here.
Niisan!
I reach out to him, praying that he survived the blast as I did.
Nothing.
Pushing back panic, I crawl through the hole in Ashtaron and look around. Niisan is about a hundred feet away. I try to run over to him, but the lack of gravity takes me off guard and I nearly fly, uncontrolled, into space. I manage to steady myself and force myself to walk, sedately, over to Niisan.
Niisan’s Gundam looks less damaged than mine; the cockpit is still sealed. I haul myself up and press my face against the plate glass, trying to see if he’s all right. His eyes are closed, which would explain why I can’t reach him. But his presence is fading from inside me. He is alive, but I don’t think he will be for long. His spacesuit is ripped. I can’t even open the door and try to help him.
Niisan. Niisan, open your eyes! Don’t leave me alone here!
I pound on the glass between the two of us, trying to get his attention somehow, trying to wake him up. He doesn’t react at all. I can see blood trickling down his forehead. I pound harder, starting to cry, ashamed of myself but doing it nonetheless.
“NIISAN! DON’T LEAVE ME!”
I grab the handle of his door and tug on it, heedless of the fact that if I succeed in opening it, Niisan will surely die. It doesn’t matter, we’re both going to die anyway, and I’m scared, I’m scared to die all alone here, I want my niisan, I’m scared, I’m scared –
The door is stuck, welded shut with the force of impact. I continue to pull on it, screaming, until my strength gives out. It doesn’t take long; it can’t be more than a minute before I slump down on top of the Gundam and give up. Despair creeps over me, sinking into my brain and making me limp and exhausted. We will die here, if Niisan isn’t already dead. We have no way to leave. Even if Niisan somehow survived the crash, his Gundam is obviously inoperable, and I know mine is as well. There’s no way off the moon. He will be dead within hours; I within days.
I let go of one shuddering sob, then simply lay there and stare at the stars. The battle has stopped. Everything is peaceful. Nobody within miles.
I shiver and turn to look at Niisan again. I can see that he is still breathing, but I can’t feel his presence at all anymore. He is dying.
I close my eyes wearily, resting my face against the glass. It doesn’t matter that we’ve failed. Nothing matters anymore.
Don’t worry. Everything will be all right.
I sit up straight, eyes going wide. I heard . . . a voice.
We’re coming for you.
It’s that girl. The Newtype. Tifa. Bitter hatred wells up inside me, ending in a choked off sob. If hatred got Niisan killed, I can’t hold onto it anymore.
I can see a speck of light. A ship, perhaps. I force myself to leave Niisan and crawl back into Ashtaron. I can’t see what it is, but I’m prepared to fight with whatever’s left of my Gundam, though I’m not sure anything still works.
“Olba?”
My eyes go wide again. “D-dare ka?” I manage, but I know that voice altogether too well.
“Ch,” Garoad continues, “I don’t know why the hell we’re supposed to come rescue you after you try to blow up the entire world . . .”
“Garoad,” a soft voice says, almost reprovingly.
“Hai, hai,” Garoad says, unfailingly cheerful after almost getting killed. “What Tifa wants, Tifa gets.”
I can see him now, streaking towards us in Double X. I try to hate him, try very hard, but he’s saving my life. For no reason.
“Hold on, Olba,” Tifa advises, then Double X grabs Ashtaron in one hand and B. in the other. I slide towards the edge and nearly fall out.
“K’so, that’s not going to work,” Garoad mutters. He lands next to me. “Better get into the cockpit. We can leave the wreckage here.”
I force my frozen brain to work. “Niisan can’t leave his Gundam. His spacesuit is torn.”
More mutters from Garoad, then, “All right.” He lands next to me and the cockpit door opens. I manage to hobble my way into it. Tifa smiles reassuringly at me. The world is starting to spin alarmingly. Garoad grabs Niisan’s Gundam.
“Careful,” Tifa says, watching him.
Garoad nods, looking at it intently.
Tifa looks over at me and gently pushes me so I’m sitting down. I think I might pass out, as humiliating as that would be. The world is fading in and out in waves.
“Daijoubu,” Tifa says, still smiling. “We don’t want you to die.”
Garoad looks like he disagrees. I don’t blame him. Still, he says nothing and speeds back towards their ship. Amazing, the loyalty Tifa possesses. Garoad would do anything for her. All because she’s a Newtype.
I’m glad that I can be angry again.
“No,” Tifa says with a very sad smile. “Not because I’m a Newtype. Because we care for each other.”
I stare at her for a long second, then the world goes black.
~~~~
Sometimes I think the Frieden crew is convinced I can work miracles. The things they throw at me . . . Tifa after giving Garoad the satellite cannon, Caris after being shot, Enil after her entire ship was blown up . . . and now this.
Well, given the fact that I saved everyone else, I suppose it isn’t too unreasonable.
Still, it’s damned hard to work with Olba shrieking like that.
“NIISAN!” He’s fighting like a demon against Roybea and Witts, who are both trying to keep him in his bed. He’s wounded badly, but I don’t think he realizes it. “NIISAN!”
“Let him go,” I tell them. Maybe he’ll stop yelling if he can see his brother.
Roybea and Witts look at each other, look at me, look at Olba, and shrug. They both step back and let Olba stagger over to where I’m trying to save his brother’s life. “Niisan, niisan . . .” He tries to shove me aside and start shaking him.
I take hold of his arms. “Don’t move him. He’s badly injured.”
He stares at me, completely uncomprehending. He was unconscious when Garoad brought him in, but woke up when I loaded him onto a stretcher to deal with later. His brother, whose name I can’t recall at the moment – I’m not sure I ever even knew what it is – is in far worse shape. But Olba is injured too, and the more he moves around, the longer he’ll be confined to bed. There’s blood still streaming from a head wound I don’t think he knows he has. I wince; I’m going to have to do something about that soon.
“Niisan,” he repeats. I think he’s lost the rest of his vocabulary. Then he proves me wrong by saying desperately, “I can’t feel his presence . . .”
I give him a very gentle shake. “Olba, I will do my very best to save your brother’s life. I promise. But you have to stay out of my way and rest.”
Olba stares at me in confusion for a minute, then nods slightly and starts to back away. His knees buckle and he nearly crashes to the ground; Roybea and Witts both leap forward and manage to catch him just in time. He’s coughing helplessly. I can see blood on his hands where they’re cupped over his mouth.
“Careful,” I say as Roybea and Witts lift him up and put him back on the bed. I think he’s lost consciousness again. I turn my attention back to his brother. Fortunately for me, Roybea acts intelligently for once, grabs a roll of bandages, and takes care of the gash on Olba’s head.
Tifa is standing in the background watching; Garoad hovers behind her like a faithful second shadow. I push my glasses up on my nose and get to work.
~~~~
We’ve done some strange things for Tifa, but this has to take the prize.
Garoad is standing in the doorway with his arm around her, looking on in confusion and displeasure. Garoad may not be a violent person by nature, but I think he would have been glad to know that the Frost brothers were dead.
I know I certainly would’ve been. Ch’, how many times did they attack us? You’d think they’d get the picture after a while.
The poor doc is doing his best. I think he was glad that Olba finally passed out. I may not like them, but they certainly are devoted to each other. The last time I saw a nervous breakdown that bad was when Tifa got kidnapped and dragged into space. Garoad was almost as freaked out then as Olba was now. Me and Witts are no wimps, but it was hard to keep him down. I don’t know how he fought so hard when he was bleeding everywhere. I look down distastefully at the blood all over my hands. I’m hardly a doctor, but I didn’t see anyone else volunteering to take care of Olba.
The door opens and the Captain walks in. His sunglasses are back in place. He exchanges a nod with Tifa, then goes over and starts talking to the doctor.
Tifa smiles at all of us. “They’ll be all right.”
I don’t know how she deals with seeing the future all the time. It would drive me crazy. I have enough trouble with the present and past.
Doc slumps into a chair and nods. “He’ll pull through.”
He really is a miracle worker, I think.
“What are we going to do with them?” Garoad asks, being his normal charming self.
We all look around at each other helplessly.
“I’d like to say that without their Gundams, they’d be relatively helpless,” Doc says. “However . . .”
They wouldn’t be. We all know that. If nothing else can be said of the Frost brothers, they’re creative. And determined. And a lot of other things, none of which are particularly good for the rest of the mankind.
Garoad shrugs. “Kid says that even he can’t salvage any of his Gundam.” He nods towards the older one. “And if Kid says so, that means it’s really trashed. He asked if he could take it apart and use it for spares.”
“What did you say?” Witts sounds amused.
“Me? Nothing. Paula got down his neck about remodeling people’s mobile suits without asking again.”
“All things considered,” the Captain finally says, “I think it would be best if we kept them here to keep an eye on them.”
“Hai,” Doc says, “however, how long were we all planning on staying here? They won’t be up to going anywhere for quite some time. And I’d really like to get them to a better facility.”
“That can be arranged.” Caris has been standing so quietly in the background that I had completely forgotten his presence. I know that the kid saved all our asses, and I like him, honest, but he’s still a creepy little guy sometimes.
“You have connections, naa?” Garoad says, elbowing him with a grin.
Caris merely nods.
“Even after you stole their spaceship?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
Caris shrugs. “Different connections.”
“Well, I’ll stay with them and make sure they recover,” Doc says. No matter what, he’s a softie.
“I’ll stay with them.” Tifa speaks up.
Garoad makes a face, then quickly looks innocent as Tifa glances up at him. “I’m with her,” he proclaims cheerfully, draping his arm around her shoulders.
They really are adorable.
The Captain nods. “I’ll leave it in your capable hands,” he says to the doc, then leaves the room.
The doc looks around at me, Witts, Tifa, Garoad, and Caris. He’s going to say there are too many people here, I can just see it coming . . .
“There are too many people in here,” he proclaims, and everyone looks at me as I start snickering.
~~~~
I wake slowly, to pain. Every breath I take requires monumental effort. I become more aware of my body as consciousness trickles into my mind. Everything is bandaged. I can’t feel anything below my waist.
I cannot remember what happened.
I can’t remember . . . anything.
I try to sit up and realize quickly that this is not a good idea. My ribs catch fire and I slump backwards, struggling for air.
“Don’t try to move.” An unfamiliar face hovers above me, delivering the obvious a few minutes too late. “You’ve been very badly injured.”
I try to hide my confusion, but I must not be able to, because he goes on to explain.
“You’ve had an accident in your mobile suit,” he says, keeping his voice calm. “You’re on the Frieden.” He delivers this name like it should mean something to me. I suspect he’s right and it should. Unfortunately, it doesn’t.
“Who are you?” I’m glad to see that I can still speak.
“I’m the ship’s doctor,” he says. Apparently I’ve never met him before, he doesn’t seem at all concerned that I don’t know him.
I look around. I know I must still look confused.
“By the way,” the doctor continues, “what’s your name? We’ve never been properly introduced.”
I open my mouth, then stop.
He looks at me questioningly.
“I don’t remember.” That’s all I can say. I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything.
He’s much too stoic a man to look surprised, but his eyebrows raise. “I see,” he says. “Tell me, what besides your name do you not remember?”
I stare at him. “Everything.”
He nods a little. “Well, you did receive a very bad head injury. That probably accounts for it. Your memory may return, given time.”
May? I don’t like the sound of that. And I have the nagging feeling that there’s something I should ask him, something I should be worried about . . .
“Your brother’s fine,” he says, and relief floods through me though I don’t know why. “He’s over there. He was less injured than you. He’s sleeping now, as you should be.”
I nod. Maybe when I wake up, this will all have been a dream. Maybe I’ll remember who I am and why I’m here.
“If I’m not here when you wake up again,” the doctor says, “your brother’s name is Olba. Try not to frighten him. He was quite . . . distraught.”
I can only nod. The doctor turns and leaves the room, and I stare at the ceiling until sleep takes me again.
~~~~
When I finally wake up, with no idea of how long I’ve been unconscious, my head is throbbing and the room is empty. I lift one hand cautiously and find that my head is swathed in bandages. I can’t imagine there having been a need for so many; only tufts of my purple hair are sticking out. Either I was injured far worse than I thought, or whoever bandaged my wounds was incredibly inexperienced. I suppose it’s a combination of both. I only remember arriving here vaguely, but from what I recall, the doctor was busy with Niisan. One of the other crew members probably had to take care of me.
I sit up very carefully, trying not to put any further strain on my injuries, and look across the room to where Niisan is laying in bed. I can see his chest rising and falling with his breath, and I know he’s alive. But I still don’t feel his presence. Frowning now, trying not to worry, I push myself out of bed and walk over. My legs are surprisingly unsteady, but I make it there all right and push up a chair so I don’t have to stand any longer.
“Niisan?” His face is pale, but his breathing is steady. I check his pulse; it’s slow, but definitely there. “Niisan . . .” Relief overwhelms me and I bury my face in the blankets next to him. I’m glad no one is here to witness this weakness of mine, but the simple fact remains that without my Niisan, I am lost.
I hear him stir, and my head jerks up as if it’s on a string. “Niisan? Daijoubu ka?”
His eyes blink open and he turns his head, very slowly, to see me. “Hai, daijoubu,” he replies, with a comforting smile. Niisan doesn’t smile often, and seeing it makes me feel better.
“Yogatta,” I manage, pushing back tears. I have to be strong for Niisan.
“Olba.” He says my name slowly, as if it’s unfamiliar to him. “What happened?”
I’m not surprised he doesn’t remember. He was hurt so badly, far worse than me. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
His eyes go vague for a second, as if he’s struggling to recall.
I try to give him a hint or two. “Do you remember the battle? Or . . .” I think harder. My head aches. “The satellite gun?”
He shakes his head.
I blink down at him, bewildered. “Do you remember anything?”
He shakes his head again.
My breathing catches in my throat. “Nothing at all?”
“Nothing,” he says, then, for some strange reason, apologizes. “Gomen, Olba . . .”
I think that must be why I can’t feel his presence anymore. He can’t remember anything . . . he can’t even remember me . . . Niisan? Do you hear me?
His face doesn’t change. He continues to simply look at me.
He doesn’t . . . hear me.
“Niisan . . .” I try to sound normal but my voice is choking. “You don’t hear me.”
He looks confused. “Nani?”
I don’t understand. What happened? Why can’t he hear me? My head is starting to throb even worse. Why doesn’t he remember? What’s happened to us?
Part Two
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