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I’ve been carrying out my encumbrances for murdering a number of people for so more years than I can count. I have since lost track of the number after my own death. I am responsible for every single death that I ordered, and for all of the casualties of the war. I also hold myself responsible for the people who died at my Mariemaie’s hands. She has suffered enough; she needs no more burdens. Besides, being a murderer is in her blood and she can’t be held accountable for that. And she was strong enough to grow out of that hereditary glitch. My sentence is to watch my family suffer while I can do nothing to quell their sorrows. But sometimes it’s not so bad. There are times when they are happy. I long for those moments and wish they would happen more often. To me, one tear cannot be forgotten by one hundred smiles. If I weren’t already dead, I would die every time I was unable to undertake their burdens. Lady Une has been paying a heavy price from the war as well. Hers may be more onerous than my own, because she knows she must live and carry out her work. She has to take care of Mariemaie for me. She has to take care of the world. The world needs her; at least until it can make its own decisions, and keep the peace she has fought with the Preventers to keep. She truly does carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. The only things we share now are memories. They are the only things worth embracing… I remember the first time I made love. I had prepared for it like it was the only moment worth living for. We were in my German estate, my room, and it was wonderful. It was her very first time. Well, it wasn’t the first time I had had sex, but it was the first time I made love. Like most arrogant aristocrats, I had had many women—until I fell in love with Lady Une. She was eighteen; it was the year before the war called us to active duty. At first, I did not like the idea of her working beside me; it was too dangerous. Of course, Lady Une isn’t her real name, but I am bound even in death not to speak her birth name. To save me from fearing for her life, she staged her own death behind my back. I was crushed when I found out that she was dead. When she came to me as Lady Une, I knew right away it was her, but she would never tell me so. She never once said “Treize, it’s me, I’m still alive and I came back to be with you.” But I think she knew I didn’t really need to hear her say it, because I knew. Once while we were making love I uttered her dead name by mistake. I knew immediately after I had said it that I had changed our relationship forever. “Treize, I don’t know who you’re talking to, but don’t ever call me that again,” she said coldly as she got up from my bed. “I killed that woman years ago.” With that she left me. It must have been so hard for her; she gave up her friends and family just to be by my side, and to follow through with our ideals. And I had made her remember that when I said her other name. When she came back to me, all I said was, “Lady Une, it’s nice to have you back.” I couldn’t say I was sorry, this new Une would never accept my apology; she would only deny that the situation had ever happened at all. My heart ached for her, and when she looked at me when she thought I wasn’t paying attention, I could see that she longed for me as well. She was no longer the woman I once knew as gentle and nurturing. She had become the stern colonel that held no sympathies whatsoever to anyone. It took me quite a while to break that exterior shell of hers and find the Une I was so deeply in love with. After I had finally melted her cold heart, all it took to find my loving Lady was a gentle word or a simple touch. If I knew now how much time I had wasted trying to mold her into the woman she once was, I would have married her even in the face of War instead of waiting until afterwards. That was a promise I never meant to break, but destiny called for my life, and I knew it was my time; I had done enough damage. I might have even told her about Mariemaie. Yes, I knew I had a daughter. Leai and I had had a difficult relationship. I had mistaken lust for love, and ended up in a scheme of power. Dekim Barton had used his daughter like bait, luring me in, hoping that when she became pregnant I would marry her and they could use my name as a weapon of supremacy. I had enough sense to catch on, and I left her, but I swore I would always be there for my child. I saw my daughter once before Leai died, she had permitted me that. When she died, Mariemaie went missing. I desperately searched for her, but my superiors forced me to stop the quest because if it were leaked to the public my value would be ruined. I wasn’t going to let that stop me, but then I met Lady Une, and I didn’t want her to know what a terrible man I was. So I broke all ties with my daughter, and soon I forgot her. Une and I were happy together, but I couldn’t tell her about Mariemaie. I thought that after the war, I would tell her everything. I would even tell her about the time I struck a soldier for slandering her. What was it exactly that he had said? Oh yes: “The only reason Lady Une was promoted to His Excellency’s aid de camp is because she plays his bitch. Very well, I’ve heard.” He must have thought I was out of earshot, but he was sadly mistaken. I lost my temper and landed a hard blow to the man. “In case you have forgotten, Colonel Une is thrice the soldier you are and she has been nothing but loyal to Oz and her duties since she enlisted. I think you soldiers could learn a lot from her.” I turned on my heels and then added, “Also, soldier, I hope you never speak so wretchedly about another woman in all of your life. You have more decency than that.” After that, I never heard another malicious word about Une or, well, any of the women soldiers for that matter. There are so many lovely memories of us together during the war, but there were also some very terrible moments as well. Lady went to space and showed the world the part of her she had before shown exclusively to only me. I was so jealous. She became confused; she thought that’s what I had wanted. My heart was telling me I did want that; but I also knew that more than meager jealousy, her attitude would gain her too much attention. My apprehensions were confirmed when Tubarov found Une to be a threat and shot her. I could do nothing but think about how I could have showed her so much more of how I cared for her. I thought I may not have another chance, and I wasn’t too far off, because things just got worse, and I wasn’t even able to see to her full recovery. Space was calling, and I had to respond. Somehow she made it to space in time to save me from being defeated by Milliardo. We went back to the ship where I gave her her last orders and made her promise to continue living without me. She started to cry, so I made love to her, slowly and with so much passion that I knew if nothing else she would remember our last moment together. Just before I stepped into Tallgeese, I turned to her and kissed her fervently in front of all the soldiers. We didn’t break the kiss for a long time, and by then the soldiers went from a dumbfounded hush to whistles and applause. When we broke, Une blushed and I said, “I love you, don’t forget that.” Then I went to my death. A year later, Une met Mariemaie. What a tragedy, what was Dekim thinking; trying to have a child rule the world? I suppose he got from me exactly what he wanted anyway. I thank Lady Une everyday for taking in my child. I watched helplessly as Une cried herself to sleep, asking me why I did this to her; was I trying to haunt her, or punish her for loving me. The nights when she talked to me not knowing I was there listening were the worst. I held her those nights, and that broke my heart even more than I thought humanly possible (though it didn’t matter if it was humanly possible anymore because anything is possible here). I wanted so badly for her to know that I didn’t blame her for anything, and I cherished her love indefinitely. I just wanted to make her pain go away, but I couldn’t. I visited her dreams when I could, replaying images of us together, reminding her to be strong and that I love her. Love. The word has been so abused that it doesn’t express nearly enough of how I feel about her. Gratitude. Safety. Stability. Enchantment. Beauty. Devotion. Friendship. Passion. If I were to make a list of what she means to me, it would take eternity to finish it. As time wore on in the human world, Une and Mariemaie became the family I had always wanted. I began to refer to the two as “my family”, and indeed they were: the woman I was to marry and the daughter that should have been ours. I laughed for days after Mariemaie told Zechs to marry Lucrezia. They were playing chess, Mariemaie was losing, and as a desperate attempt to claim victory, she brought up the subject of Lucrezia, and won the game. I didn’t like Zak at first. I really didn’t like him the night he kissed my daughter. She was so happy; I was so furious. It took me some time to get used to the fact that my daughter was growing into a woman, but when I realized the two were in love, I gave them my blessing and let it go at that. At their wedding, I sat by Lady’s side. I could have stood by Zechs, but I thought he was doing a fine job playing me, and Lady needed me more. I watched a tear trickle down and kissed her where it had landed. She smiled faintly and whispered “Treize…” and for that moment my heart swelled with the possibility that she knew I was there. I beamed with pride when they named their baby after me. The daughter who didn’t even know me had given me the greatest honour a father can ever be granted. He grew up to be a fine young man; Une says he looks like me. I can see the resemblance, too. I was the first person she told about the “Sleeping Death”. She wasn’t scared at all, but she fought with that fierceness only my Lady beholds. Now she seems relieved that the sleep is taking hold. I don’t think she plans to wake up this time. I know I’m being selfish, but I’m so lonely that I hope that she gives in this time. I’ve been watching the world go by as if I were suspended in space and I could see everything from here go by as quickly as it always has. Even though it has been an eternity since I was permitted to touch my Une, I have lost all sense of time and I’m not even sure if all of these things happened yesterday or earlier today. It doesn’t even matter; Time is a mortal’s necessity, I have no further use for it. I help make her transition between worlds so as to keep her from any discomfort. Finally, everything is perfect. We are finally together like we were so many years ago, only this time there are no distractions and no regrets. I kiss her deeply and say, “Welcome home, Angelica.” “It’s been a while,” she replies and we embrace for a thousand years. Finally, we have been released from our pasts. Our shackles have been removed. xxx So this is the end of “Life Forgotten”. Did you like it? Please tell me if you liked it at all, or if you didn’t, then what it was that you didn’t like. Okay? PLEASE! |