Disclaimer: I never have and I never will own Gundam Wing. I’m not that
fortunate. :P
Rating: PG-13 for the most part
Pairings: Non-yaoi, see Raptures of Paradise and Phases of Memory for pairings.
Surprises: Enough to make your head spin. ;P
Genres: Sci-fi, drama, horror, some fluff, and other delightful things.

AN: A shout out to my beta Midii Une, Bryony, and everyone else who reviewed my
fics. You’re my cheerleading section! ^_^

Gundam Wing: Legend of the Dream Stalker
Part I: AC 199
By Sailor Celaeno

There is an old wives’ tale that insists that when nightmares haunt a person on
one too many nights that the phenomenon is caused by a creature that feeds on
dreams.

The monster stalks those with happy, beautiful fantasies and devours them until
the victim is only left with endless nightmares. Some say this monster is a
jealous spirit, out for revenge. Others say it just despises people and their
happiness and steals their dreams out of pure spite.

This is the legend… the legend of the dream stalker…a monster haunting the
night in order to cause misery.

But this is just a silly story, isn’t it?

*****

So Hilde and Duo were off on their honeymoon in the Pacific. They were in
Tahiti, enjoying sand, sun, and beautiful beaches. Quatre paid for the
honeymoon as a present. The biggest surprise was when Sally revealed that she
and Wufei were engaged. They had been engaged for nearly a month, but they
didn’t want to overshadow Hilde and Duo’s big event. Dorothy was happy that
there would be another wedding later that year. She secretly hoped that there
would another engagement.
Mariemaia was now 10 and another school year was over. She was lying down on
the picnic blanket with young Liam Debinder-Pryde beside her. He was 6 and was
moving from kindergarten to the first grade. They were staring up at the cirrus
clouds floating by across the bluest sky that early summer. The Preventers were
having a company outing so there were many other children around too. Mariemaia
pointed at all the colorful and fantastically-shaped kites flying in the quiet
wind.
Liam watched Mariemaia and looked where she told him to look. She was a
wonderful companion for a little boy wise beyond his years. “Quatre tried to
talk to my father.”
“Your father? Why?” Mariemaia glanced over at the young boy beside her.
“Because Father’s Day is tomorrow.”
Mariemaia grew silent. She hadn’t really given much thought to the holiday
like the other children did. She had become acquainted with the holiday when
she began attending school on Earth. The other students would often talk a
great deal about what they were going to do with their fathers that Sunday. She
wasn’t as excited over it at all. That was because everyone she knew had a
father. Treize was dead. All she did was go to the cemetery and leave red
roses. They were beautiful flowers and she could almost feel her father nearby.
Treize was there with her all the time. It always bothered Mariemaia that
Treize had died without knowing that she ever existed. Would he have been at
all interested in her, if he had known? She often wondered this when this June
holiday came up.
“Miss Mariemaia?” piped a little voice.
Mariemaia recalled her companion. “I’m sorry Liam. I must have been
daydreaming again. What were you saying?”
“I was asking whether or not that there is a God?”
Mariemaia was amazed at the question. “Why would you ask a question like that?”
“Well, Mrs. Baines said there is one because that’s who Mommy is with now,”
replied the young boy. He was watching the late spring breeze fly through the
stalks of green grass.
Mariemaia herself had never given a thought about whether there was a God or
not. God was never an issue for the once would-be queen of the Earth. “I guess
there must be one, Liam. People celebrate Christmas and all.”
“But… how do people know if there is one or not?” Liam was turning to her for
faith.
Mariemaia thought for a moment. “I guess that there is one because…” she and
turned to Liam. “Because… you believe with your whole heart that He exists.
Yes, your mother is with Him. She loves you… always and forever.”
Something in her smile made him believe.

*****

Sally rushed to the hospital. “Preventer Water!” saluted a guard at the
entrance.
“Where’s Doctor Reynolds?”
“He’s with the senator’s daughter.”
Sally made her way to the patient’s room. She couldn’t understand what was
happening. The twelfth one this week and still no explanation. Just what was
happening?

*****

Une was ordered to personally determine what was going on. It began with one
man. He had gone to bed and was in a coma the next morning. By the fifth
victim, it became clear that something abnormal was happening. The media dubbed
it “The Sleepers’ Plague.” Une thought they were being overdramatic, but Fiona
Laramie, daughter of Senator Oswald J. Laramie, was the latest victim of this
unknown condition. This was a call for Preventers to get involved. Une was
waiting for Sally to report to her. In the meantime, Une went over the
established facts of the case. First off, no pathogen had been detected. The
people varied in size, gender, and race. Fiona Laramie was the youngest victim
at age 14. These people had little in common other than the fact that they
lived in the New York Metropolitan area. Une sighed. So far, there was nothing
to work with. Nothing significant or unusual.
“Une!” Sally called as she approached her superior.
Une looked up. “Anything new?”
Sally replied, “Yes and no.” Sally made a “follow me” gesture. As they walked,
Sally continued. “Miss Laramie shows signs just like the others. However…” They
stepped into another room. Sally showed Une MRI scans. “There seems to be
unusually strong activity in Miss Laramie’s brain just as we found in the
others.” She pointed to scans. There were various colors in the rainbow on the
scans showing what part of the brain was active and by what degree. Sally
pointed at the red/white regions on the scans. “Something has caused their
bodies to shut down. However, they are still alive. They seem to be having
intense dreams.”
“Dreams? You mean they’re just asleep?”
Sally nodded. “Unlike normal people, they simply aren’t waking up. We’ve tried
everything from loud noises to injecting stimulants. Nothing is working. Looks
like they’re not waking up until they’re good and ready.”
“The senator won’t accept the idea of his daughter being asleep indefinitely,”
was all Une said.
“Believe me Une, I know. None of us likes this, but we can’t do much about
this. There’s physically nothing wrong with them otherwise.”
Une frowned. “I’m not sure how the President or the public will handle this…”

*****

“Joyce Bixby reporting live in front of Mount Sinai Hospital. It seems whoever
and whatever is causing this outbreak of sleeping illness has struck again. The
daughter of Senator OSwald J. Laramie has been admitted this evening. We will
bring you any updates in her condition as they occur.”

*****

“Hmph! With the way they talk, they make it sound it’s some plague,” huffed
Wufei. Like his compatriots, he was getting pressure from the President to
solve this current crisis. Predictable considering the fact that elections were
next year.
Trowa stared silently at the TV screen. Quatre was also watching, but he soon
turned to Wufei. “For all we know this could be a plague. There are some crazy
people out there doing things like this.” Quatre sighed softly. “It’s our job
to find out what has happened.”
Heero soon entered the small conference room in the hospital. “I contacted Duo
and Hilde. They’ll be on the next flight out tomorrow morning.”
Quatre nodded. “I’m sure Duo wasn’t happy.” Quatre hadn’t thought that Duo
would have to cut his honeymoon short.
“Hilde didn’t seem happy either.” Heero had an unsatisfied look on his face.
“Something else, Yuy?” Wufei noted his comrade’s countenance.
“I talked to her tonight.”
They all knew exactly who he referred to. “You know, it’s never her
prerogative to tell us anything,” Trowa said just glancing away from the screen.
“I know, but it didn’t hurt to try. Of course she didn’t say much…”
“Predictable of that woman,” grumbled Wufei.
“Oddly enough… she said that Quatre would be able to figure it out.”
Quatre was startled. “What? Me?” He was very perplexed. “But… how?”
Heero simply stared at the blond. “You could talk to them. You can reach them
and find out anything.” He watched the young telepath. “Nova said you can
contact them through telepathy. You’d be able to do it.”
“But… I…”
Trowa put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We know you can do it. If you
could fight Cass with your powers, you’ll have no trouble with doing this.”
Quatre looked around the room at his comrades. He took a deep breath. “I’ll do
it.”

*****

“So this is your place Midii,” she said to herself. She pushed the apartment
door open. There was only darkness there. She ran her left hand along the wall,
trying to find the light switch. After a short moment she found it. With a soft
click the light turned on. She could see that she wasn’t a big decorator. That
made perfect sense since her spy work would probably take her away from “home”
quite often. She had to be honest with herself. She didn’t belong anywhere.
Could her past make anything easier on her? No it wouldn’t. Midii Une’s life
wasn’t so great. “Can’t I just be someone else?” she asked herself.
“No. You have to be Midii again. That’s who you are.” She walked around the
living room. The boots she wore click-clacked as she walked on the wooden floor
boards. She ran a hand through her hair. Eventually the strawberry blond
disappeared revealing the familiar golden blond. As her hair grew to its normal
length it had become amazingly wavy. She liked the look. She felt very
beautiful. Now that was something different, she had been feeling pretty damn
ugly searching all over the Earth Sphere trying to out as much about her past.
Now she was in her apartment in Paris. She had money in the bank. However her
fairly modest apartment was paid by a benefactor. It seems that her friend
Esmeralda had left her a small inheritance. It entailed that Midii’s place in
Paris would be paid for until she left it behind permanently. Midii was
grateful for this last gift from her late friend. It would make it easier for
her until she figured things out. Midii walked over to some picture frames on a
large bookcase. She picked up a picture and a younger version of herself was
smiling with three young boys and an older man. She realized it was her father
and brothers.
Another picture caught her attention. It was a sketched drawing of a familiar
face. “Trowa…” she murmured the name. She could remember the sensation of his
body so very close to her. The warmth of him being so very close to her own.
There was a calming lull in his voice. There was a strong feeling about that
man. “Trowa…” she murmured that name again.
Midii noticed a large binder nearby. She opened it and was shocked to find
more sketches of him… Midii’s hands trembled as she stared at those sketches.
He had such deep green eyes. She wanted to drown in them and be forever a part
of those wonderfully enigmatic eyes. Midii blushed as stared at sketches of
Trowa’s shirtless figure. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.
Midii’s face became a stronger crimson. “Am I in love… with Trowa?”
Her mind became a huge whirl of thought and activity. “Midii and I have a
relationship that isn’t like any other. We’re halves of each other. We are
always bound together. Chaos and misery brought us together. Nothing else will
split us.” Midii shook her head. A sudden thought occurred to her. “A bath…”
she mumbled to herself. She pulled off her boots and walked to the bathroom
without a second thought. She had a vague recollection of where the bathroom
was.
She walked towards another room. There was a small hallway and on her left was
the bathroom. She felt along the wall for the light switch. A small click and
the lights came on. Just like the living room, it wasn’t fancily decorated. It
had all the necessities and had a simple color scheme, blue and white. The
fluffy bathroom mats felt wonderful underneath her feet. She over to the
bathtub/shower. In the corner, there were bottles: shampoo, conditioner, body
wash, and… “Bubble bath…” Midii had the largest grin on her face in weeks, she
hadn’t have much cause to smile in recent weeks. She immediately turned on the
water. She tested for steaming, hot water. She poured a capful of solution into
the water. Bubbles soon formed in the water.
Midii stood up and took off her clothes. The sudden desire for a bubble bath
came to her in flash of thought. The tub soon filled and she stepped into the
inviting water. She sat comfortably in the tub. The scents of flowers and
berries fired her olfactory nerves. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to
wander and think of nothing else but the warm… body leaning close to her.
“What?” Midii was jolted into opening her eyes. Did she just think about…?
Midii blushed silently and tried to push the thought away from him. She closed
her eyes and tried to focus. The heat and steam made the wonderful scent of…
after shave stronger. Midii’s eyes popped open again. “What?!” She couldn’t
understand it. Was she going to keep thinking of those hauntingly, deep green
eyes? Would the sensations of him being so close to her always be just beyond
her every conscious thought? “No, they won’t.” Midii sighed the bubbles floated
around her. “I love Trowa. I have always loved him, and I’ll die with it in me.”

*****

Hilde watched Duo stare out the window of the plane. He had an anxious look on
his face. She knew he had every reason to be worried. She looked at the
beautiful bracelet on her wrist. She had a sad smile as she looked at the small
gold bracelet. “Duo?”
“Hm?” Duo turned to his wife.
“It’ll be a long flight. Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”
Duo said nothing, but the look on his face said everything he couldn’t or
didn’t want to say. “I can’t sleep. I’m too worried.”
Hilde put a hand on shoulder. “Fiona wouldn’t want you getting ill just
because you didn’t try to rest. You’ll be useless if you get too tired.”
Duo nodded his head and leaned back in his seat. Hilde stroked his hair as he
tried to doze off. Hilde decided to catch some Z’s as well. She didn’t get much
sleep last night since Heero contacted the newlyweds last night. Heero wanted
to tell them himself rather than have them find out in the morning papers.
Maybe… just maybe… when they got home, everything might make some sense.

Next Time: Can Quatre really figure out what’s going on? How are Hilde and Duo
connected to Fiona Laramie, the sentator’s daughter? And just where is this
patient introduced in “Phases of Memory?”