Gundam Wing Meets the Little Prince (G)

[lyraalluse]

Gundam Wing Meets the Little Prince

© Emma Lee Downs

This is a fan fiction that crosses one of my favorite animes, Gundam Wing, with one of my favorite children's books, the Little Prince. I hope that you enjoy it.

Original Link One: www.fanfiction.net/s/13086396/1/Gundam-Wing-Meets-the-Little-Prince

Original Link Two: www.deviantart.com/lyraalluse/art/GW-Meets-the-LP-Chapter-01-80859493

Original Link Three: www.deviantart.com/lyraalluse/art/GW-Meets-the-LP-Chapter-02-80859936

Original Link Four: www.deviantart.com/lyraalluse/art/GW-Meets-the-LP-Chapter-03-80860257

Original Link Five: www.deviantart.com/lyraalluse/art/GW-Meets-the-LP-Chapter-04-80860513

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Chapter One: Fateful Encounter

“Do you have the coordinates, Duo?”

Quatre asked from behind the cockpit of his mobile suit unit, Sandrock.

“Sure do buddy.”

Duo answered back as he hopped into his mobile suit, Deathsythe.

“Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be a complete waste of time?”

Heero mentioned curtly as he piloted his mobile suit unit, Wing Gundam, out of the docking bay of Quatre’s home country.

“I have to agree with Heero on this one. I doubt that we will find anything out there.”

Trowa mentioned as he piloted his Gundam unit Heavyarms toward Heero’s.

“I don’t care if we find what we are looking for are not. Something has crashed out there in the desert and it’s our duty to find out what it is. Even if OZ has nothing to do with the foreign objects appearance, it’s a good idea to see what it’s capable of before it causes any real damage.”

Wufei remarked as he followed his two friends out of the docking hanger.

“That’s the right attitude, Wufei! This is just a simple recon mission. It shouldn’t take more than a day, with any luck.”

Quatre piped in as he and Duo met up with the other Gundam pilots, leaving the docking hanger empty. Heero shielded his eyes from the sun as he stared through the cockpit chamber of his mobile suit unit out onto the desert ahead of him. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary which added to his frustration.

“What did they say this object looked like?”

He barked in an almost inhuman voice. The irritation could not be hidden from his tone, even though he was trying to be professional. Duo sighed and switched on an information screen in his cockpit. He sent the images of the object for the rest of his friends to inspect.

“It’s an asteroid about four feet in length. At least, that’s what the images from space suggested. The funny thing is that no one saw it crash. Something of that size should have made quite an impact. The last place it was seen was here, hovering around this section of the desert and then poof! It just disappears. Talk about weird, eh?”

Wufei frowned and shut off the image transmission.

“I don’t like the sound of that. It could be some type of biological warfare that OZ has cooked up. Has anyone around these parts complained of any sickness since the asteroid was spotted?”

Quatre gestured for the Gundam pilots to follow him over a large sand bank. He shook his head inside his mobile suit unit, even though he knew the rest of the pilots couldn’t see him and felt a little foolish for doing so afterwards.

“No. That’s the strange part. There doesn’t seem to be any ill effects to anyone in the area. No one saw anything, not even an indication of a crash site. If the weapon was biological, it has yet to take effect on the people out here.”

The Gundam pilots followed Quatre into the desert making little comments as they searched the area of the desert where the asteroid was said to have landed. After three hours of searching, the Gundam pilots were about to give up when Trowa spotted something rather strange on his radar.

“Wait just a minute guys; there appears to be something moving in fast from the east. Maybe this is what Oz sent down here on that asteroid. I’m going to check it out. Please back me up.”

Trowa rushed toward the area where the object was closing in and the other pilots followed. After only a few minutes travel, Trowa’s Heavyarms ran straight into the object and fell backwards. When he looked up, he saw a young man with golden hair ridding on a strange beast he had never seen before. Not sure what he was up against, he pushed a button in his cockpit that gave a warning signal to the other Gundam pilots. One by one, they cautiously assembled behind Trowa with their weapons ready to fire. Trowa looked into the young man’s eyes. They were the bluest eyes he had ever seen his life. The boy’s hair looked like it was made of the stars. His skin was pale and seemed to have a glow about it. He didn’t look like any human Trowa had ever met in his life. This made him nervous as he opened his cockpit and gestured to the young boy to get off his beast. The young boy obeyed hastily and stared up at Trowa in curiosity. Before Trowa could say anything the boy asked, “Who are you?”

Trowa was caught a little off guard by the question but he politely replied, “I’m Trowa Barton. You know, I should be asking you that question. What are you doing out here in the middle of the desert all by yourself?”

The boy looked at Trowa curiously and then gave a big smile.

“Oh I am not here all by myself. I brought my friend! See? This is Rewen. He’s a Gluslog. I brought him from my world. He comes in handy while traveling through space, you see. He eats all of the pesky asteroids that get in the way.”

The other Gundam pilots noticed that Trowa seemed to be doing fine, so they drew close to his Gundam unit. They were surprised to see him staring down at a rather peculiar young man. Duo opened up his Gundam unit and hopped down to meet the young boy. Trowa followed Duo’s example and crawled out of his. Heero, Wufei, and Quatre followed their lead and made a circle around the young boy. The youngster felt rather intimidated being stared down at by five well built young men but he didn’t want them to know that so he stood up straight and beamed at them all.

“Well now, I didn’t know you had so many friends, Trowa. Who are all of these people?”

Duo laughed and gave a thumbs up.

“Well, you can call me Duo. That quiet guy over there is Heero. Don’t let him creep you out; he’s just a bit antisocial. The blond haired guy is named Quatre. Hey you know what? You look a little like him. You guys could be distant cousins. The guy with the slicked back hair, well that’s Wufei. He’s a good guy, but he doesn’t talk much either. And of course, there is Trowa, who you’ve already met.”

The young boy smiled and shook all of the mobile suit pilot’s hands.

“Well, it is very good to meet you all. This big fella here is named Rewen. He’s a Gluslog that I brought from my home planet. As I was telling Trowa, they come in handy while traveling through space. They eat all of the pesky asteroids that get in your way. As for me, I am called the Little Prince. I am the Prince of a distant world, though there are not many people to govern over. I have two volcanoes, you see. One of them is active but the other is not. I rake it out everyday just to be safe. I also have a flower. I think it’s what you call a rose on this world. She’s very bossy though. She makes me water her and care for her every day. I don’t really mind though. Oh, and there are also a few animals. Some of them are my friends but others try to eat my rose so I have to keep them back by putting a glass over her. And then…”

Heero put his hand over the Little Prince’s mouth and frowned at Duo.

“You see what happens when you ask a kid for help? You get all of the wrong information. This isn’t aiding in our search whatsoever.”

The Little Prince looked up at Heero with his blue eyes and shook himself free.

“A kid? Where is a kid? I am the Little Prince. I think I am as old as the stars I could see from my planet. Of course, I was never able to count them all. Anyway, what is it that you guys were looking for? Maybe I could help.”

Quatre gave a warm smile and chuckled a bit in spite of himself.

“Um, Little Prince was it? Somehow I don’t think you will be able to help us on our mission. You see, we are looking for an asteroid and…”

The Little Prince became excited and jumped up straight which caused Quatre to jump back in surprise before he could finish what he was saying.

“Oh, oh I know! I saw it on my way here! It was falling to the earth with great speed. It looked like it would do some damage so I had my gluslog eat it. Like I said, they come in handy while you are traveling through space.”

Wufei inspected the strange beast which looked like a cross between a sea cucumber and a camel. He then gave a stern look to the Little Prince.

“Is what you are saying the truth, young man?”

The Little Prince beamed showing a row of white teeth which seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.

“It is true, my friend! You can have a look at my gluslog if you don’t believe. The asteroids sit in his stomach for a whole month before they are digested, you see. Fortunately for you, he’s only swallowed this one. Usually if you want to find one to keep in your collection you have to dig through twenty or thirty until you find the one you are looking for. I met a man on this planet once, and he collected asteroids. It was a bother digging out the one he wanted from the one hundred my gluslog had swallowed on his way there.”

Wufei looked at the young man with a rather bewildered look on his face for a few moments before walking over to the gluslog to inspect it for signs of having swallowed an asteroid with his space reader. Sure enough the reader picked up signs of an asteroid exactly four feet in length inside the stomach of the Gluslog. Wufei looked a little pale as he turned around to tell his friends the news.

“It looks like our search is over. The asteroid is in here; just like the boy said.”

The Little Prince clapped his hands and mounted the gluslog with a large grin on his face.

“You see, you see? The asteroid is inside my Rewen. It looks like your search is over! Hurray!”

The Little Prince did a handstand on Rewen and then rode around on him for a while the Gundam pilots tried to make sense of the situation. Heero watched the Little Prince continue to do acrobatics on the Gluslog as he said, “I don’t know how much of what this kid is saying is true but we know for sure that the asteroid somehow got into the stomach of that space creature. If we take them both back to the desert base, we can interrogate the boy and extract the asteroid from that creature’s belly. It’s getting late in the afternoon so I think we should head back now.”

Trowa nodded in agreement and gestured for the Little Prince to come off his gluslog. The Little Prince came back over with a smile on his face and looked up at Trowa with his big blue eyes.

“What do you need me for, friend?”

Trowa smiled in spite of himself. It was the first time anyone had called him a friend after knowing him for only a few hours.

“Little Prince, would you please come back to my, um, house with me and my friends? We need to get that asteroid out of your friend’s stomach. It’s very important that we do this; understand? We will get you back home after we are done, alright?”

The Little Prince laughed and did a few cartwheels in the sand before saying, “How silly. I told you that I am away from my planet. I am here visiting this world on my own so don’t worry about getting me back. There is only one desert friend that can do that. My Rewen and I will come to your home. I can stay the night and cook some of the food I brought from my world. This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait. Let’s go new friends!”

Duo gave a short chuckle and Trowa rolled his eyes. Wufei climbed into his Shenlong and headed back to the base without telling the others. The whole situation was giving him a headache and he didn’t want to stick around any longer than was necessary. Heero saw Wufei wandering off and followed behind him in his Wing Gundam. When Duo noticed the two of them were gone, he sighed and jumped into his Deathsythe.

“Gee, would it kill the two of them to wait for the rest of us to head out before taking off once in a while? On second thought, it’s more likely that that little boy really came from another planet then for that to happen. I better get going too. Are you coming Quatre and Trowa?”

Quatre nodded and climbed into his Sandrock.

“Roger that. I’m on my way back to the base.”

Duo grinned.

“Alright! I guess I’ll head out with you and let Trowa worry about the kid.”

Quatre winked at Trowa and headed out with Duo. Trowa frowned and called after the two of them, “Hey wait a minute; how did I get stuck taking care of the kid?”

Duo and Quatre only waved the arms of their mobile suit units as they walked toward the desert base, leaving Trowa and the Little Prince alone together beneath the now mid-afternoon desert sky.

[lyraalluse]

Chapter Two: The Star-Prince Chronicles

When Trowa finally managed to get back to the Quatre’s desert base with the Little Prince and his gluslog following behind him, the other pilots had already put on their cooler evening space suits and started evaluating their Gundam units for errors. Trowa wandered in the mobile suit hanger with a rather grumpy expression on his face that made Duo laugh in spite of himself. 

“What’s wrong, Trowa; you don’t like taking care of kids? I think he’s pretty cool, myself. You could really learn something from him.” 

Trowa ignored Duo as he put his Gundam Heavyarms on autopilot and had it walk into docking bay on its own. The Little Prince still had a smile on his face as he jumped off his gluslog and guided it to an empty docking bay where Trowa had instructed him to put it earlier. The gluslog yawned as the Little Prince tied it to the first tier of the docking bay and held out some foreign-looking plants for it to eat. The gluslog lazily gulped them up and then lay down to sleep for the night. The Little Prince then headed over to Duo’s docking bay and stared up at his Gundam in curiosity. 

“What are you doing, friend Duo?” 

Duo winked at the Little Prince and pointed toward the blowtorch in his right hand. 

“I’m making some repairs on my Gundam unit. It’s always better to be prepared.” 

The Little Prince didn’t seem satisfied with Duo’s answer and asked the same question again. Trowa gave a smirk as he walked passed Deathsythe’s docking bay to talk to Heero. He looked up at Duo and remarked; “Now you see what I had to deal with all the way here. You owe me big, Duo. It’s your time to babysit the kid.”

Duo tried to protest but the Little Prince hopped up on his Gundam unit and stared up at him with his big blue eyes. 

“You know something, Duo, you remind me of a man I once met on a distant world.”

Duo sighed and threw his blowtorch down. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to get any work done with the Little Prince around. 

“Oh really? What was this man like? Was he super cool?” 

The Little Prince shrugged. 

“I don’t know what that means. I guess so. Well, that is to say, if by ‘super cool’ you mean lonely.” 

Duo felt his heart skip a beat. 

“Lonely? Hey kid, are you sure that guy really reminded you of me?”

The Little Prince nodded. 

“Yeah; he was just like you. See, this man lived on a world where nothing else existed. There were no trees, no plants, no animals…nothing as far as the eye could see. In order to entertain himself he would tell jokes all day long. I guess jokes were his only friend on that lonely world.”

“When I happened upon him he was telling a joke about a baboon. The only problem is that since nothing was on the man’s word, he didn’t know very much about baboons and his joke wasn’t very funny. When I saw the man he said I would make the perfect audience. I figured I would stay a while. The man seemed very lonely, after all.”

“He told me many jokes but I didn’t think any of them were funny. All at once he asked me why I wasn’t laughing. I told the man that I didn’t find his jokes very funny. He told me to laugh anyway. So I did. He said I made a very good audience. He wanted me to stay and laugh at his jokes forever, but I had to leave.”

“So I said goodbye to the man and I left to go to another world. You remind me of that man a lot, friend Duo. But unlike him, I think your jokes are funny. I can laugh at them without being told. That makes you more honorable than the man I met on that distant world so long ago in my opinion.” 

Duo looked at the Little Prince with sadness in his eyes. 

“Hey, how did you know that I was…?” 

Before Duo could finish Heero and Trowa appeared below his Gundam carrying two space readers. 

“Hey are you going to spend all night tuning up your Gundam or are you going to help us with our mission?” 

Duo stared at the Little Prince for a few minutes and then nodded reluctantly. 

“Yeah…sure. I’ll be right down.” 

Duo hopped down from the second tier of the docking port and followed Heero and Trowa to the docking bay where the Little Prince had tied up his gluslog. The Little Prince found himself to be very bored without Duo around so he wandered across the mobile suit hanger until he happened upon Quatre who was working on his mobile suit unit. Unlike Duo, Quatre seemed to be taking his repairs at a steady pace and didn’t seem to be in too big of a hurry to get them all done. The Little Prince hopped onto the third tier of the docking bay where Quatre was inspecting one of the wires in his mobile suit’s legs. The Little Prince sat across from Quatre and stared at him curiously. 

“What are you doing, friend Quatre?” 

Quatre turned around and smiled at the Little Prince. 

“I’m just making sure my mobile suit is in good working order.” 

The Little Prince frowned. 

“No, I mean what are you doing here? What are you doing in this place?” 

Quatre laughed and patted the Little Prince’s head. 

“That a very long and complicated story, Little Prince. I guess if you needed a quick answer, though, it’s because it’s my duty as a mobile suite pilot.” 

The Little Prince tilted his head to the side and looked out the hanger window onto the night sky. 

“That’s very interesting, friend Quatre. You know, you remind me of someone I once knew.” 

Quatre ruffled the Little Prince's hair and turned back to his work. 

“Is that so? Who do I remind you of?” 

The Little Prince wrapped his legs around the third tier of the hanger and hung upside-down. 

“You remind me of a man I met on one of my travels a long time ago. This man lived on a world that had everything. It had trees, plants, animals, insects, and mountains as far as the eye could see. This world also had many types of people. The man claimed to own lots of land. In fact, he owned almost all the land of the world, though he was not a king. It was something his family had bought a long time ago.” 

Quatre nodded to let the Little Prince know he was listening, even though he was pulling out cables from his Gundam’s right leg. The Little Prince continued on. 

“Even though this man had everything, he felt very hollow inside. He was not a cruel man in any way. He was just very lonely. To help ease his loneliness he would make one hundred friends a day. Pretty soon the man knew everyone on the planet but despite that fact he still felt empty inside.”

“It was on one of these days when the man was feeling particularly lonely that I met him in one of the jungles of his world. He was introducing himself to all of the fish in the river when I showed up. Right away he introduced himself to me and I told him my name too. Then he wandered off without another word. I observed this man introducing himself to many people around the world but he never stayed past the introduction. I found this very odd and I continued to follow him, hoping he would notice me.”

“Finally after months of following him, he spotted me tagging along and he asked me a question. ‘Why are you following me around the world, Little Prince? Can’t you see I am trying to introduce myself to everyone? It’s very busy work.’ Adults are very funny. They get so caught up in work that I guess they forget the things they set out to do.”

“I told the man that I was following him because we were friends. To be friends, you have to make an effort to know them. You can’t just go hurrying off after they know your name or you will always be lonely. However, if you get to know even just one friend, your life will be fulfilled.”

“The man agreed to let me be his friend. We traveled around the world telling stories together, hunting and fishing. One day, I had to go. The man wanted me to stay but in the end I had to take my leave. I think that was the only time the man had ever cried. I was the only friend he had ever made, you see, and I had to go. But I heard later from a falling star that the man has made at least two friends since I have been there, so my heart doesn’t feel so burdened. For some reason you remind me of that man, friend Quatre.” 

Quatre dropped his wrench and looked back at the Little Prince. 

“Little Prince…how do you about…” 

Before Quatre could finish, Trowa climbed onto the tier and pointed toward the gluslog below where Duo and Heero appeared to be having some kind of argument.

“Listen Quatre, I’m sorry to disturb you, but those two won’t listen to a word I say. Will you mind lending me a hand with this? You are pretty even tempered; I know that they will listen to you.” 

Quatre stared absent mindedly at the Little Prince for a few moments and then nodded. 

“Ok, Trowa. I will come help you guys. Do your best to calm those two down before I get there would you?” 

Trowa nodded and reluctantly headed back to the place where the gluslog was tied up on his own while Quatre put the cables back into his Gundam unit and packed his tools neatly away. Before he made his way down the tier to help the others, he stared back at the Little Prince with a hint of sadness in his eyes. The Little Prince smiled and did a cartwheel onto the first tier. This brightened Quatre’s spirits a bit as he made his way to the docking chamber where the Little Prince had tied his gluslog to bring an end to his friend’s dispute. The Little Prince did a second cartwheel in midair that lead him onto a catwalk leading to Shenlong’s docking bay. Wufei was on the fifth tier of the docking bay making repairs to his mobile suit’s face chamber. The Little Prince stared up at him in curiosity and hopped up the tiers until he reached the tier Wufei was standing on. Wufei looked back to see the Little Prince doing a handstand behind him. The oldest of the Gundam pilots was less than thrilled to see him. He sighed and went back to his job repairing his mobile suit’s face mask, trying his best to ignore the Little Prince. The Little Price dropped to the ground from his handstand and watched Wufei work while lying on his stomach. 

“You know friend Wufei, you remind me of someone I once knew.” 

Wufei pretended to ignore the Little Prince and continued working on his Gundam. The Little Prince didn’t seem to mind and continued on with his story. 

“Yes, you remind me of a man I once met on a world not too far from here. This man was the greatest sword master on his world. He had even surpassed his master. Even so, this man was not fulfilled. Since he was the best, he could never find a worthy opponent to challenge him in battle. This made the man feel very alone.”

“He wanted someone to look up to and learn from. I met this man training by an old tree. He was very quick with his sword and every cut he made on the training board he was sparing with was true. I watched him for a while before I approached him with an outstretched hand. ‘I am the Little Prince,’ I said. ‘And who are you?’ The man looked sadly at me and said, ‘I am a man without a worthy opponent. A warrior without an opponent means nothing to the world. You can call me a warrior without a cause.’ I thought that was a funny name but I respected his wishes.”

“I asked the warrior without a cause why it was so important to find someone who surpassed him in battle. Warrior without a cause said that we learn from those who are better than us but if there is no one to learn anything from, then it is impossible to be fulfilled. The warrior without a cause was an adult, and I find adults to be very silly. They are always looking for answers to questions that don’t matter. Nonetheless, I decided to help warrior without a cause find a worthy opponent.”

“We searched all over his world and even a few words close by, but there was no one that surpassed his skill. Finally, after many months of searching the warrior without a cause gave up. He knew then that there was no one in this side of the galaxy that could surpass his skill. He was feeling very sorry for himself one day when I decided to challenge him to a sword fight to cheer him up.”

“Warrior without a cause laughed a hearty laugh and said I would surely loose. There was no way that someone as small as me could possibly win against the strong and powerful warrior without a cause. However, we fought anyway. And do you know what? I won! It was really a fluke that I did. Warrior without a cause was so busy laughing about my size that I had time to tie his shoelaces together. When he came charging forward, he tripped instantly and dropped his sword. I won by default.”

“You wouldn’t think so, the way that man fawned over me after that. He followed me all over the world and told me to teach him my secret techniques. I told him everything I knew, but I was still able to beat him in every fight. One day, the warrior without a cause beat me and after many months of training, he again became the strongest warrior on this side of the galaxy.”

“This made him very sad but I found this all to be very silly. ‘If you are the best on this side of the galaxy, then why don’t you use that skill to teach others?’ I told him. ‘There is great fulfillment in learning, but even greater fulfillment in teaching. They say that a man who teaches others never stops learning. This is because a teacher learns from the people he teaches.’ The warrior without a cause said that I might have a point and started teaching other people on his word what he knew.”

“From that day forward, the warrior without a cause had a sense of fulfillment and the last time I heard, he changed his name. The stars call him Warrior who is fulfilled because he gives back to others. I do not know why you remind of that man friend Wufei, but somehow you do. Isn’t that strange?” 

Wufei had stopped working on his Gundam a while back and looked at the Little Prince with a pale face. 

“Tell me this; how do you that I was…” 

Before Wufei could finish, Heero came stomping by and threw his space reader on the floor causing it to shatter into three smaller pieces. 

“I’m tired of working on that project. I’m heading back to work on Wing Gundam. Quatre wants you to help them analyze that stupid piece of rock inside of that kid’s Gluslog. He says you have more expertise when it comes to lunar calculations. I think that he is right. Don’t let Duo get on your nerves. He’s been in a bad mood this whole time. I couldn’t tell you why. Anyway, go help out alright? Quatre needs all of the help he can get.” 

Wufei gave a curt nod in Heero’s direction. 

“Alright…I’ll help them quantify their data on the asteroid. I’ll be right down.” 

Wufei looked back at the Little Prince and narrowed his eyes. The Little Prince only smiled and did a walking handstand down each tier until he reached the first. There was something about the way the Little Prince couldn’t keep his balance that made Wufei feel at peace inside…and almost smile. Of course he didn’t. Before he had the urge, he packed up his tools, reconnected his Gundam’s face mask, and headed down to help the others mobile suit pilots with their problem. The Little Prince was bored again as he wandered around the desert hanger. Somewhere near the back, he spotted Heero working on the Wing Gundam and decided to watch. Heero frowned when he saw the Little Prince walk up behind him and observe his work.

“Do you mind? I am trying to put the finishing touches on my Wing Gundam. Go play with the others.” 

The Little Prince watched Heero grumpily climb the first and second tier so he could start working on his Gundam’s cockpit. He tilted his head to the side and then plopped down right in front of the Wing Gundam with a big smile on his face. 

“You know, friend Heero, you remind me of a man I once knew.” 

Heero frowned deeper and replied shortly, “I am not your friend. Please leave me alone. Go bother the others.” 

The Little Prince only laughed and stared up at Heero with his big blue eyes. 

“Yes, you definitely remind me of that man I once knew. I met him on a world far away from here. On this world, there were only two people; the man who I mentioned before, and a woman. Can you imagine! The man lived in the west and the woman lived in the east. They were divided by a grand ocean, and each lived on separate landmasses.”

“The woman lived on a continent of flowers, lakes, and beautiful scenery as far as the eye could see. The man lived on a continent of deserts, small oasis, mountains and rough terrain which stretched from one end of the land mass to the other. The man knew that the woman existed but he was not interested in being her friend. The man was content living on his own. However, the man was still lonely. To cure his loneliness, he would spend hours thinking of ways to rid himself of the woman so he could have the world all to himself.”

“The woman always tried to be his friend but this aggravated the man. He did not want someone to care for him. He wanted the world to belong to him and only him so he could explore it properly, record all of the data, and have his exploration journals for company. I met the man while he was exploring a cave. I said hello to him but he did not respond. I said hello again and he told me to go away. I thought this was very odd so I followed the man. I watched as he wrote plans about how to rid himself of the woman to the east in his journal.”

“One plan was to convince her that her landmass was cursed but he realized that would cause her to move to his. Another plan involved sending her away on an asteroid, but none ever came close enough to grab. I watched him write all of these plans in his travel journal and one day I told him that I thought he was very funny. Adults are always funny. They don’t take the time to understand how they feel. They try to give themselves temporary fixes to their problems. That is why I think they are all very foolish.”

“Even so, I decided to have some fun with the man. I took all of his travel journals and gave them to the woman in the east. The woman looked through them and learned all sorts of things about the landmass to the west. This inspired her to make her own travel journals. She spent many years collecting all of the data and writing it down. When she was finished, I asked the woman if I could give them to the man in the west. She said that she would be honored if I did so I delivered them to the man.”

“The man looked quite desperate when I showed up. All of his travel journals had gone missing and he had spent the whole three years I was with the woman trying to find them again. When he saw the stack of travel journals I was carrying, he grabbed them and started to read them. He was desperate for information, because data was his only friend. He read the travel journals and soon found out that they belonged to the woman in the east. However, something strange happened when he began to read them.”

“There was something about the way she wrote about her land that made the man want to go there. He read every one of her travel journals and when he had savored every word on each page he realized that he was in love with her. The man traveled to the east to meet the woman on her land. However, when he got there, the woman was dead. She had been waiting for the man to realize that he loved her all that time, but in the end it was too late. She died from a snake bite wound. If the man had been there only one day sooner he could have saved her life.”

“So it came to pass that the world that once had two people only had one. The man returned to making his travel journals but this time he felt a sense of fulfillment. Even though the woman was not on his world, he could still read her words in the travel journals she left behind. These words taught him kindness and that kindness was able to tame the man. In time, the woman’s words taught the man to be humble and ultimately taught him how to love people other than himself.”

“I became good friends with the man after that. There was only two times I ever saw him cry. One was when he found the woman’s body that fateful day and the second was when I left. But you will always shed a tear for someone you love, so there was no shame in the times he cried. I don’t know why you remind me of that man, friend Heero. But somehow you do. Isn’t that strange?” 

Heero dropped his L-7 system driver. It made a large clang as it reached the floor of the desert hanger. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes when he turned around to face the Little Prince.

“You…how did you know that I care about…” 

Before he could finish his sentence, Trowa showed up with dark circles under his eyes. 

“I’m exhausted. Listen, Heero; I know that you and Duo aren’t getting along to well right now but can you please help out for a while? I need a break.” 

Heero looked past Trowa to the Little Prince and stared at him in silence for a few minutes. The Little Prince smiled and walked rolled across the floor to where Trowa stood waiting for Heero’s reply. Heero snapped out of his daze when he saw Trowa’s face twist up in aggravation and gave a small salute in his direction. 

“My mind was somewhere else. I don’t know what I was thinking. Alright; I’ll help the others with the project. Just give me a few minutes to wrap things up here.” 

Heero packed his repair equipment away and concentrated on putting the final touches on his Gundam unit before heading back to help his friends with their project. He didn’t look back at the Little Prince when he made his way to the hanger where the young boy had left his gluslog. There was something that changed about him though. He couldn’t explain what it was but there was a small part of him that had changed after hearing the Little Prince’s story. He arrived to find Duo doing an ultra-reading on the gluslog’s intestinal tract. Heero took the reader from him and gestured for him to take a break. Duo handed the system reader to him and stepped back in shock. 

“Heero…you really want to help?” 

Heero didn’t say anything as he finished the reading on his own while the other mobile suit pilots looked on in astonishment.

[lyraalluse]

Chapter Three: The Tea Party

Back in the dessert hanger Trowa was treating himself to a cup of tea. He sat on the first tier of the port where his Gundam unit was docked and looked up at a window that looked out onto the night sky above. The Little Prince was feeling rather bored and climbed up to join Trowa on the first tier. Trowa sighed as he watched the Little Prince sit across from him, examining his tea pot with his intense young eyes.

“You look like you have never had tea before.” 

The Little Prince smiled. 

“I haven’t. This would be my first time. If you will let me have some, that is.” 

Trowa rolled his eyes and poured the Little Prince a cup of tea. He set the cup in front of the Little Prince who examined it thoroughly. Trowa found this behavior to be quite odd but gave the Little Prince some advice just the same. 

“Look, it’s not some foreign creature you examine, ok? There is only one thing you have to remember when drinking tea; it’s hot, so drink it slowly.” 

The Little Prince nodded and shakily put the cup of tea to his lips. He took a sip very slowly like Trowa had instructed but the tea still burned his tongue. He placed the cup back on the floor quickly and spit out the hot liquid onto the hanger floor below.

“Ouch, ouch! You did not say it would burn! I’m sorry friend, Trowa, but I do not think that I like this earth drink called tea. Ouch!” 

The Little Prince breathed in and out heavily until the pain on his tongue went away. This made Trowa chuckle in spite of himself. 

“Little Prince, there is more to drinking tea than drinking it slowly. You also have to cool it off by blowing on it before you drink it. I thought that everyone knew that, or I would have told you.” 

The Little Prince looked at Trowa with question in his big blue eyes. 

“What’s the point of drinking a hot beverage if you are just going to cool it off before you drink it? You might as well just leave it cold.” 

Trowa tried to think of an answer but nothing in particular came to mind. 

“It’s just the way that things are done, ok? It’s like a tradition. You warm up a drink because that is the way it’s been done for many years.” 

The Little Prince did not seem satisfied with Trowa’s answer. 

“That’s a funny thing to say. Just because something has been done for a thousand years, it doesn’t make it right. That is why you remind me of a man I once met, friend Trowa. He always said funny things like that too.” 

Trowa took a sip of his tea and then said, “Oh really; is that so? What was this man like?” 

The Little Prince smiled and said, “Oh he was a very good man. I liked him very much. I met him on this world, actually. He was a pilot. However, it was a long time ago that I met him. I don’t think I will ever see him again. It’s been too long since the last time I saw him, you see.” 

Trowa looked at the Little Prince intently. He wanted to say something to comfort him because he saw the subject made him a little sad, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Trowa was relieved when the Little Prince smiled again and attempted to cool off his tea by blowing on it. 

“I guess I will give this strange earth beverage another try. Here goes!” 

The Little Prince held his nose (the way most children do when they are forced to eat foods they do not like) and cautiously took another sip of the tea. This time, instead of spitting it out, he swallowed the green liquid and a big grin swept across his face. 

“Hey, once you get the hang of drinking it, it is pretty good! I think I know the answer to why you heat up cold beverages only to cool them down again, now.” 

Trowa laughed. 

“Why is that, Little Prince?” 

The Little Prince beamed and his smile seemed to light up the room. 

“It’s so you appreciate what you are drinking more. See, with a cold beverage you can drink it anytime. You are so used to drinking it and it is so easy to do so that you do not appreciate the way it tastes. But with a warm beverage, you have to take care of it and nurture it until it reluctantly gives you the flavor you desire. This makes you appreciate it more, wouldn’t you say?” 

Trowa smiled gently at the Little Prince. 

“I guess you are right.” 

The Little Prince looked up at Trowa with his big blue eyes and said, “Now I am going to tell you why you remind me of that pilot from a long time ago.” 

Trowa nodded. 

“Go on, I’m listening.” 

The little prince took another sip of his tea and then said, “A long time ago on this world I met a pilot. He was stuck in this very dessert many years before the colonies appeared in outer space. His plane lost an important engine component, you see, and he was stuck out here all by himself. This pilot was very good at drawing. You might say he had an artistic soul. However, he was so caught up in a thing called a war that he wasn’t even aware that he had this talent.”

“I decided that it was my mission to show him that he had this hidden talent. So you know what I did? When I saw him drawing up schematics to figure out was wrong with his plane engine, I asked him to draw me a goat. The man said he did not know how to draw a goat and to go away because he was trying to fix his plane. But I insisted and finally he drew what I desired.”

“In fact it was even better than what I had desired. The man drew me the goat inside a crate! That way, I would never lose track of him, you see. I got the pilot to draw me other pictures as well. He drew me a muzzle for the goat so it wouldn’t eat my flower back home. Oh! And he tried to draw me a rope but as I recall I thought that would be sad because the goat couldn’t wander wherever he pleased on my world, so I refused that drawing.”

“Anyway, the more the pilot drew for me, the more he realized how much he loved it. You see all artists have a similar spirit. Once they’re talent is unlocked, they have an endless desire to utilize it. So the man drew me all sorts of pictures. At the same time, he worked on his plane engine. All the while, I told the man stories about the different worlds I had visited. The man liked my stories and told me a few of his own about his family, friends, and even a few sad stories about the war.”

“I guess in the thing called war many people leave this world never to return again. I remembered feeling sad at that thought, for there is nothing more bittersweet than leaving the place where you were born and an eternity is a long time to be away. Each day I grew fonder of this pilot but I could see he was becoming weaker each time I talked to him. I knew that I had to get him food and water or he wouldn’t survive so I lead him to a well and made sure he was rescued the very next day.”

“He returned home after that. I heard that he became a very successful children’s book writer and artist. I knew that he would. Out of all the people I have met on my journey, there are only a few that I learned something valuable from. The first person I learned from was a fox. The fox taught me to tame him and in turn I was tamed. It was because of that fox that I learned how to be a true friend. The other person I learned something from was that pilot. Through teaching him how to be a good friend and giving him the tools to unlock his potential, I learned to love.”

“I always loved that pilot as a father since I never really had one of my own. It’s funny how something like a war can make you forget the things that are really important. He returned to the war after my meeting with him and I never saw him again. But you know, I always knew that he cared. He wouldn’t have written children’s books if he didn’t. Anyway, there is something in you that reminds me of that man, friend Trowa. Maybe it is your hidden talent. You should strengthen it and become the best you can be.” 

The Little Prince smiled at Trowa who felt his eyes tearing up. 

“Little prince, I only want to know one thing; how is it that you know…” 

Before Trowa could finish he heard his comrades cheering in the background. The Little Prince did a cartwheel off the first tier and ran to see what the commotion was about. Trowa cleaned up the area where he had tea with the Little Prince and regained his composer before joining his friends on the other side of the hanger. He arrived to find Quatre running tests on the asteroid which was now resting beside the gluslog. Trowa gave Heero a look of utter confusion, hardly able to believe what he was witnessing with his own two eyes. 

“How may I ask, did you get that thing out of the gluslog?” 

Duo walked up beside Trowa and put his hand on his shoulder. 

“It was pretty easy, once we figured out something interesting about Mr. Gluslog over there. That kid was right; it appears to take one month for that thing to digests asteroids and other space matter in its stomach. And do you know why this is?”

Trowa shrugged. “You’ve got me. Why does it take that long?”

Duo smirked and pointed toward the gluslog’s stomach.

“It’s stomach is some kind anti-black hole! As crazy as that sounds, I decided to put it to the test. Our Gundam units are designed to do reconnaissance missions in any environment. So naturally, I stuck my Gundam’s scythe in that things mouth and I ended up hitting the top piece of the asteroid. We used Wufei’s serpent arm to fish the thing out and the rest, you might say, is history.” 

Trowa chuckled and looked down at the Little Prince. 

“Well what do you know; listening to a kid came in handy after all.” 

Everyone laughed; even Heero, which prompted everyone to stop laughing shortly after. There was always something odd about seeing Heero express any kind of emotion.

[lyraalluse]

Chapter Four: Bittersweet Endings

The asteroid was analyzed and turned out to have vital information concerning the next target point of the OZ organization. Enclosed within the asteroid was a data disc that clearly mapped out OZ’s intent to turn against the United Earth Sphere Alliance within the next year. The mobile suit pilots were able to draw up plan’s based on the information written on the disc that enabled them to have the advantage in the future war efforts against OZ. 

When it came apparent that the Gundam pilots were busy trying to plan various war strategies, the little prince packed up his things and left on his gluslog as mysterious as he came. However, something changed within the hearts of the Gundam pilots after the little prince took his leave. The five mobile suit operators became more than war comrades; they each learned to respect each other’s differences and become true friends. 

After the war with OZ, Romefeller Foundation, and the United Earth Sphere Alliance was finally put to rest with the death of Treize Khushrenada in the final war, it is said that the pilots retired their Gundam units, never to fight again. There was a small uprising within one of the colonies that was quickly put to rest when the five Gundam pilots were reunited a year later. Their friendship had never wavered in the small time they were apart because of the lessons that the little prince had taught each one. 

After that final conflict a final change took place in each of the pilot’s hearts. Quatre decided to use his kindness to become closer to the people in his life that really mattered. He traveled across the colonies getting support for his family’s business and used his power to make the dream of a galaxy without war a reality. 

Wufei used his martial arts experience to set up a training colony with Sally Poe, to use the art of war as a way for young men to express themselves on a spiritual level rather than use military warfare as a tool to oppress others. 

Duo teamed up with a mobile suit pilot he had met in the war named Hilde to start a company that turned scrap metal into reusable mobile suit unit parts, helping to preserve the beauty of the earth and colonies by making use of the materials that were already present. They say that Duo somehow became funnier through the whole ordeal. He could always make his friends…and his true love Hilde...laugh no matter what hardships they went through. 

Heero went on acting like the stubborn young man he had always been but there was something that changed in him in regards to Relina. He surprised everyone when he announced that he married Relina and even took up the responsibility of being the second vice foreign mister of the colonies. 

As for Trowa, he perhaps learned one of the most valuable lessons from the little prince; to never let his talent go to waste. He ended up leaving the circus industry with Catherine to form his own live show that toured all across the colonies. 

The pilots often came together to talk about the old days with their loved ones nearby but whenever the little prince was brought up there would be an awkward silence in the room. The five friends would have the sudden urge to walk outside and look up toward the sky. There, they felt like the stars were laughing and they could laugh too, for that’s where the spirit of the little prince truly lived; in the promise of a better future.

[Zurvan]

Wonderful story!

[lyraalluse]

Oct 11, 2018 11:23:56 GMT -8 Zurvan said:

Wonderful story!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and for the kind comment. I appreciate it. :3