[Drabble - Gundam 00] Of Praise and Sorrow

[piyomon.livejournal.com]

Title: Of Praise and Sorrow
Author: Aethra-Caelis/piyomon
Series: Gundam 00
Character: Marie Parfacy, Allelujah Haptism
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~420
Warnings: CHARACTER DEATH. And I cannot emphasize this enough. If it's not your cup of tea, I suggest you read a different fic. The good news is that as far as main series canon is concerned, this is now AU. ^_^
Notes: This is a ficlet in response to a prompt at the Mechaphiles Forum, “All the points of light start to dim and cease transmitting.” Also a cameo of 00F's Chall Acustica.
Disclaimer: Gundam 00, 00P, 00F characters and related indicia © Bandai Entertainment, Sunrise.

---

It had all happened so fast -- platoons of Ahead, GN-X, all up against the handful of mobile suits that made of Celestial Being. The top turret of the Ptolemaios was locked on, where Marie had been assigned to man the guns. In a move that one can consider heroic, or downright idiotic, Allelujah drove the Arios into the line of fire...

***

The ICU at Krung Thep was silent, save for the hiss and beep of the life support capsule -- the thread upon which Allelujah Haptism hung onto. Marie was sitting on a chair right beside it, her head leaning on the glass. To the unknowing passerby, it would only seem that this woman fell asleep watching over the patient. But the members of Celestial Being knew that it was the only way if they wanted to see Allelujah back up on his feet again.

His injuries were such that even at the rate of regenerative medicine at their disposal, it would take almost a year for him to gain complete functions of his body and to go through rigorous physical therapy. Any other person would have died -- but it would seem that Super Soldiers were created -- manufactured -- to endure a lot more.

But what use would the body be, if the mind, the heart and the spirit were destroyed?

Marie carried minute conversations with Allelujah in her mind -- and more often than not, the conversations where one-sided. It was like she was doing all the talking and he was just listening. She knew he was there -- it was like she could hear him breathing, as if his lips were moving; an undecipherable, but sure signal that only she could understand.

And then it happened.

Chall Acustica happened by the medical bay, when she heard Marie's screams. For a split second, she wondered why a praise to God would be voiced out so... "un-praise-like”... and then it hit her -- she ran to the ICU. Her movements, it seemed to her, were almost mechanical: she called for the doctor, while the silver-haired girl clung onto the capsule as if her life depended on it. She then called for Sumeragi and the Meisters...

The doctor came in and quickly -- accurately & carefully -- scanned through the vital statistics displayed by the monitors. He bit his lip and bade for the capsule to be opened. It had to take Lockon and Setsuna to hold the sobbing Marie back.

The people at Krung Thep could never forget that day – the day when a psalm of praise turned into a mournful song of sorrow.