All That Matters
by
Captain Anonymous



It was after two in the morning. Catherine closed the door behind her and walked into the dark house. She walked silently down the halls of the house towards her room, taking care not to wake anyone. She closed the door of her bedroom and sat down on the bed.
It had been a long performance, she was exhausted. She moved her hand and turned on the lamp next to the bed. The pale light filled the room.
She moved to the edge of the bed. At the end of the bed was the heavy army trunk, she looked down at it. The letters had been stenciled in white paint, and were worn from years of use, but they were still visible.

"Capt. R.S. Ordway, CCB, 9th S.M.S.A.D. Corsica."

She rubbed her hand against the wood, tracing the letters with her finger.
After Ordway had been killed, she had been given the old trunk, along with the rest of his personal affects.
She remembered every detail about him, the way he acted. He'd often call her while he was at work, when he had to work late. Often he would complain about paperwork, or about Duo's hair. Ordway had made it his personal mission, as soon as Duo was assigned to him, to get him to follow regulations and get him to cut his hair. He often would go on after Duo about it, but everyone knew Duo never would surrender his braid that easily. It was the small things like that, that stood out in her mind.

Still most of the time he would call and say much he wanted to be with her. She still missed him, even after all this time.

Catherine had never been fond of soldiers, after her mother, father and little brother had been killed during a battle. But there was something about Ordway that was different. While he had been an OZ soldier during the war, there something different about him. He had lost his arm. Maybe it was that sacrifice that set him apart.

Ordway never talked about how he lost his arm. Now that she thought about it, he never seemed to talk about his experiences during the war at all. She never knew about what he had gone through, or about the four separate OZ units he was apart of.
He had said that it was all ancient history.
Now he was gone. It seemed hard for her to believe that one of Midii's brothers had been the one to pull the trigger. Like his war time experience, what happened during that final mission was never fully explained. Trowa never said anything about that mission. He was the only Preventer to survive the battle. One Preventer had been killed out right during the battle, and Ordway would die from his wounds. Catherine wondered if Ordway had fallen trying to protect Trowa. Ordway knew well that Catherine thought of Trowa as her brother, and they had been close.

But that didn't seem to matter anymore. Ordway was gone. Catherine knew that he loved her. He had told her only a few weeks before the end, that someday they would be together, and get married. Now all that was left inside of her when she thought about him were those words he said to her, his death made them seem hollow now.
These people who craved war, they had taken another person that was import to her.
She was glad to hear when Trowa resigned his commission, saving Midii from what she had gone through.
Maybe someday, years from now, she would fall in love again.

Maybe someday. She laid back on the bed and stared upward, closing her eyes.


----------


It had been raining most of the day. For the most part, it had been a quiet Sunday afternoon. Lady Une looked out the window at the gray sky, as the drops collected on the glass. She watched them streak down, like tears.

There had been so many tears, so much sorrow and pain.

It been nearly a week now since that night. It seemed longer.

Seeing Midii again, it seemed like almost a dream. The same blonde haired girl she had once known, but to see her now, she was so much older, she looked even more like her mother.
It had been so long now since all that had happened and when she last saw Midii and her brothers
Now that she saw Midii again, all those memories came back to her. Midii had started a new life, and she had moved on from her past.

Lady had been alone now for close to four years now. Trieze had been killed at the end of the First Eve War, leading his troops into battle. He was buried now in a common soldiers grave, along with the legions of white crosses marking the bodies of the gallant soldiers that had fought under him.
After the second Eve War, she had become the adoptive mother of Trieze's only daughter. It would have been what his excellency would have wanted.
Maybe that was why she finally wanted to find Midii. Being around a young girl like Mariemaia reminded her of the family she had left behind all those years ago.
But until she had seen Trowa's file, she had since assumed that Midii was dead. Probably killed during the great war.

She had heard some rumors circulating around the Alliance Military about Midii, or a spy that shared the same name as her. Lady never tracked her down, or followed up any sort of leads about her. Besides, even if they had crossed paths, it wouldn't made much difference at the time.

But now, Lady had changed, they felt differently now. The guilt and sorrow of the war had finally caught up with her. She had left Midii and the rest of her family, and knew now that she would never be welcomed by any of her family.
Leaving them behind was greatest regret she had during the war. If she could turn back time, things would be different.
Now at least she knew Midii was alive, and had a family. She didn't mention her brothers, Lady often what had become of them. If they too had fallen victim of the great war.
She wanted to talk to her cousin again, talk things out. Tell again how very sorry she was over and over again. The silence offered no answers.
She didn't know what she would do.

------------


Midii laid back in bed, looking into the darkness, trying to put her mind at ease. For the past week, her mind had been divided. On one side, she had been consumed by the planning for the wedding, but still the lingering memory of what happened a week ago still echoed into her mind.
She had wanted to forget her past, and put it behind her, but seeing Lady reminded her again of all that pain.

She wasn't sure if she ever could forgive Lady for what she had done. Five years before the start of the Eve Wars, her mother died in child birth. With her father sick, they sent a desperate message to Lady, for help. Nothing ever came of the messages.
It wasn't a case of the message not being received, but instead her choosing to ignore them.
Midii had no other choice. She was the oldest. She would take care of her brothers any way that she could. The Alliance at the time was trying to root out rebels, and were paying good money for civilians to be contracted as spies. Midii took the job.
She was determined to keep her brothers alive, no matter what it cost.
The Alliance officers liked her, she was the young innocent girl, the last person anyone would expect of being a spy. It made enough money to buy her family food, but still hated the job. In order to feed her family, the blood of numerous soldiers was spilled. All that blood was on her hands.

After a few missions, everything changed that one fateful night.

She met a young boy, with no name or emotions. Midii had fallen in love with him. He felt nothing, he had no responsibilities, and was alone. He had freedom, he had the choice of whether he would fight, or if he would flee.
Still she was torn between her love for him, and the love of her family. She still had mission to complete, and was still bound to her family.
She didn't want to betray No Name, or anyone else, but she had no other choice.
During the battle, No Name helped her escape. He figured out that had been the one to sell out his unit, and cause the death of his comrades.
On that windswept hill, she remembered every detail perfectly. She confessed her sins to him, and told him the reason why she had done all of this.
Part of her wanted him to take her life, wanted to end all of her guilt.
He didn't take her life.
He disappeared that night into the darkness.

Even after that night she still thought about him, the boy with no name. She never wanted to betray him, or anyone else. All she wanted now was to be able to put the past behind her.
She had started a new life with Trowa, now she had her brothers with her and a young daughter, it seemed now she had the life that she had wanted.
Her two youngest brothers were too young to remember Lady at all, but she was certain that Johnnie was old enough to remember.
When he was younger, Johnnie had been far more light hearted, and open with her. Now, after the war, it seemed almost impossible for him to be the brother Midii remembered. Physically they were the same, but when emotionally, they were far too different. Johnnie had grown apart from Midii and their brothers, he never seemed to talk to any of them any more. The years of fighting had made him bitter and secluded.

It just seemed so hard to forgive Lady for what she had done. Maybe if she stayed, Midii never would have had to betray Trowa, and they would have been able to stay together as a family.
Maybe she would find the strength to forgive her.

She moved her hand up from under the sheets, and looked at the gold ring on her finger in the pale light.
Being with Trowa and her new family seemed to be all that mattered to her now. She had a daughter now, and soon her Trowa would be married.
They started making plans, it was going to be a small wedding, which suited both of them.

Midii could feel Trowa's hands against her body as he laid beside her. he whispered to her lightly, "How are you feeling tonight, Midii?"
Midii, moved to make herself comfortable, "Better, still got a lot on my mind. I guess that its still bothering me. I'll be okay."
"I'm glad to here it. I'm here for you."
Midii smiled as she closed her eyes.
"Thank you."

---------

Sylvia moved her hands across the silky sheets, until she felt the warm body of her new husband. She looked at him as he slept.
It had been one of the few nights that he slept soundly. Nearly every night he would wake up, covered in sweat, still suffering.
She moved her hand along his cheek, up to his forehead, touching his black hair.
The wedding had gone perfectly, being close to exactly what she had always dreamed her wedding would be like. The only way it could have been any more perfect was if her grandfather was still alive, so he could have been there to see her.
But he was gone.
Mitchell reminded her about her those times back in Marselles before the war, he been on her grandfathers staff, up until his trip to New Edwards.
Mitchell had stayed by her side after the news had come in, and remained with her long after the senior officers evacuated the city.
He had taken up the task of organizing the defenses.
Sylvia remembered the first OZ assault, all the confusion.
During that confusion, she met that boy, Heero Yuy. She thought it was strange at the time, that he would have that name.
He had been the one to kill her grandfather.
When she first met him, she was shocked to have her grandfather's killer standing in front of her.
She could have taken his life.
After the incident, Heero disappeared.
She never told what happened in the cemetery to Mitchell.
It was the one secret that she would always keep from him.
Heero had taken her grandfather's life, and had helped OZ bring down the Alliance. Mitchell was still suffering, and had a short fuse. If he knew who had hurt her, and helped the entire world that he known, there wasn't any doubt in her mind that Mitchell would have tried to find him, and kill him.
Last Sylvia heard, Heero Yuy had married the Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Dorlan, and was living in space.
Still, she didn't want to see either of them hurt.
She loved Mitchell, she didn't want to him get hurt, he suffered so much already. Sylvia loved him.
She knew Mitchell would stay by her side, no matter what.

They had been traveling through Europe, soon they would be going back to Sicily. They wouldn't stay long though, they would be traveling back, to see Midii and Trowa again, to help their plan for her own wedding. It would be good to see their friends again.
Sylvia rested her head on Mitchell's shoulder and closed her eyes.


To be Continued.