Title: The Best Travelled Path

Author: Karina

Rating: PG

Pairing: Milliardo + Jamie + Duo

Notes:  Challenge 235.  Baby Series 4  #158.  Takes place following Life and Death.

Spoilers: None

Warnings:

Many thanks to ShenLong Deb for her work betaing this set of fics.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or the Characters from the series but the baby is mine.

Title:  The Best Travelled Path

“You will find in this life that no matter our best intentions, sometimes we get things wrong.  Even when we get things right and everyone agrees that we are right, sometimes we are wrong.  Life is funny like that.  All we can do is to do the very best that we can.”

Jamie seemed to be fascinated by the King.  Duo watched the pair, Milliardo seemingly un-phased by the small red headed child who shadowed him as they once again settled into the delightfully warm room by the fire.  Duo found the fire’s dancing flames to be far more comforting that the arctic chill of the hallways and huddling near its warmth far preferable to banister sliding.

He wanted to scream out his frustration, run until he could run no more, but it was simply not an option.  He liked to be warm, thank you very much, and outside of these few rooms it was freezing.  Hell, there was even ice forming in the hallways, even this far underground.

The storms were wearing him down.  Gradually, yes, slowly but surely and he needed to pull himself together.  He was better than this.

“What can we do?” Milliardo sighed softly, responding to a question from the child that Duo had missed in his preoccupation.

“All that we can do is the very best that we can.  The human species was never a solitary creature, but rather a herd animal.  People congregate in numbers, live in villages, towns and cities.  It is a rare individual who shuns others of his kind.  By our very nature as a herd animal, we rely on others.  That reliance is ingrained into us.”

He was young, but he was intelligent and he seemed to have no problem with dealing with the frighteningly adult concepts that Milliardo was talking about.  It did not phase Duo though; he himself had been one of those bright eyed survivors who defied chronological years.  Survival instinct matched with a keen intelligence meant you grew up quickly.

“If you look at the animal kingdom humanity sits squarely between the herding herbivores and the pack hunters that prey on them.  But one thing is irrevocable and that is that mankind is a killer, Jamie.  If we remember that, if we can understand that, then we have a greater chance of survival.  Just because we are capable of killing does not mean that we should kill.  There should always be an underlying reason for the kill and that reason is survival.”

Duo stirred, reaching to toss a log onto the fire. “It does not mean that we have to kill to survive, only that we have the capacity to kill if it is necessary.  Killing is the last resort.  It should always be the last resort.”

“It is far better to rely on our friends to help us to take the best travelled path.” Milliardo agreed.

End

Karina Robertson  2014