(D2 Entry) Butterflies of the Night, ch. 10

[Fallen Angel]

Title: Butterflies of the Night
Author: Fallen Angel fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13 for now, but LEMON in ch. 13
Categories: Alternate Universe, series, romance
Disclaimer: i do not own Gundam Wing

Chapter 10: Dance

{


1 week later:


There was a story Relena’s dance teacher told her once, many years ago, in hopes of igniting in Relena the extra emotion that was needed to turn a good dancer into a great one.

It was a story of a woman who’d lost all she had in a fire - her husband, her children, her home and her possessions. Desperate to have them back, she went to the temple and begged the Gods to return her family to her. Out of pity for her plight, they promised to return her family to her, but on the condition that she perform for them the most beautiful dance they’d ever seen at sunrise 3 days from then. The woman was grateful but terrified. She had never been trained in dance and didn’t think she had any grace. Yet there was so much to be gained, so she practiced day in and day out for the next 3 days. At sunrise on the third day, she stood in the temple gardens and danced.

When she was done, the Gods told her she’d be granted her wish and asked her where she’d learnt such a dance. Even they were amazed by her grace and the elegance of her movements. They asked that she perform once more but she said, sadly, she could never dance that way again.

‘I will have my family back now,’ she explained, ‘and my soul will once again fly. Only once you’ve lost everything and you are alone with your sorrow, can your soul be tamed into the beauty of notes in a song, or the movements of a dance.’

Now that she’d lost everything, Relena understood that story: more than she ever could have before. Hilde was still missing. Her brother had been taken from her. The man she loved had left her. Her soul felt heavy, grounded. Trapped in sorrow.

“Relena?”

She was broken out of her thoughts by a voice beside her. There stood Cathy, Trowa’s sister, beaming at her. “Are you alright?”

Relena smiled convincingly. “I’m just fine.”

“Stage nerves, I suppose,” said Cathy. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I poked my head out before and the Mizuno Theatre is the fullest I’ve ever seen it. And your performance will bring down the house, I just know it.”

“It will with your script,” answered Relena. “Is Trowa ready yet? We go on in 10 minutes, I think.”

A strange look came over Cathy’s face. “I think he’ll be meeting you backstage.” And with that she was gone.

Relena took the time alone to survey the change room. All around her, geisha and maiko were bustling back and forth, having their hair fixed by haggard looking wig makers or kimonos adjusted by dressers. Relena knew she should have been buoyed by their excitement - it was opening night of the Kamogawa dances, after all - but she couldn’t be.

She checked herself in the mirror behind her. Her hair was immaculate, as was her kimono. Her face was pale with makeup and hopefully it covered the fact that her eyes were puffy with lack of sleep. She touched a hand to the ornament in her hair, the one Heero had given her. She tried to forget that he would be in the crowd somewhere, watching her. It was no use hoping that she could be like the woman in the story - that dancing could bring back all she’d lost.

It would take more than that. And any more than that, Relena didn’t have.

“Miss Relena, it’s time,” a voice called out across the din.

She sighed. “Alright. I’m ready.”


{ { {


“Trowa, I’m not sure about this.”

The Kabuki actor surveyed the man in front of him. Despite the slight height difference - which wouldn’t be noticed on stage anyway - Heero bore a strong resemblance to Trowa. Especially in the costume of a samurai of old and the stage makeup befitting his part.

Well, Trowa reflected, it was really his part.

“Don’t worry, Heero, you look just like me. Or, how I would look anyway.”

“That’s not going to be enough, though,” said Heero grimly. “I’m no actor. People will notice it.”

“You’ve had a week to rehearse and people will see what they expect to see. On top of that, there isn’t much speaking for you to do in the first few acts. Hopefully, we’ll have caught Trieze by then.”

“Hopefully. What did your sister say?”

“It took some persuasion but she agreed.”

“And what about the other actors?”

“Well, no one knows me well enough to tell the difference. Relena might, but she’s such a good actress, she won’t say anything….”

Heero paled. “Did you just say Relena?”

“Yes, she’ll be acting opposite you. She plays your lover. I’m sure I told you.”

“No,” Heero said flatly. “I can’t do this.”

“What!” Trowa cried. Then he remembered that even though they were alone in the room backstage, Geisha and actors were wandering around everywhere and they still weren’t sure who could be trusted. And if anyone suspected that Trowa and Heero were switching places, the plan they’d so carefully worked on would be useless. “What? Why?” he said more softly.

“Relena….Relena and I have a history.”

Trowa frowned. “Heero, I thought you were a bigger man than this. You’ve only got to be on stage with her, not marry her.”

Heero nodded, Trowa was right. This was about exposing a criminal and traitor, not about his petty problems. He’d fought in many battles, surely he could put aside his problems for one night.

“Fine.”

“Excellent,” said Trowa. Then he cocked his head to one side, listening. “By the sounds of it, that the end of the Spring Dance section. You’d best get going. And I better return to Quatre before anyone suspects anything.” He adjusted his uniform jacket. “I could quite get used to being a soldier, you know.”

Heero grinned. “Don’t.”

“That dangerous?”

“That’s not it. You’re already stretching out my clothes as it is.”

“Why, Heero,” said Trowa, smiling. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you just made a joke.”

“Trowa, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”


{ { {


“That last dance was beautiful. Don’t you think so, Mister Quatre?”

Quatre turned his attention back to Mariemaia and tried to smile. She was a sweet girl after all, and his personal guest, so the least he could do was pay her more attention. That was hard, though, when his eyes were constantly scanning the crowd in the theatre for anyone who looked like they didn’t belong. It was easy from where he sat: a private alcove along one of the side walls, it was reserved for those of privilege. Speaking of which…

“Where did you say your parents were, Mariemaia? I’m anxious to see them.”

The young girl waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, Mother and Father went to visit friends of theirs, I believe. Don’t worry Mister Quatre, I don’t mind being alone with you. I fully trust you. If we’re to be married, I should.”

Quatre sighed. If there’s anyone who shouldn’t be trusted, it’s your father.

“I’m back.”

A figure appeared in the doorway which led from the hallways that ran behind the private alcoves. “Tr…General Yuy. We were beginning to worry about you.” Quatre nodded and hoped Mariemaia hadn’t noticed his little slip up - he’d almost called Trowa by his name. It wasn’t that Quatre suspected Mariemaia would be involved in any of her father’s plans, but it would be better for her and everyone else in the theatre to believe that General Yuy was seated beside him and not the Kabuki actor, Trowa Barton.

“May I have a private word with you, Quatre?” Trowa asked.

“Will you excuse us, Mariemaia?” said Quatre. When they were out in the hall he whispered, “How’s Heero holding up?”

“A brief case of stage nerves, but he’ll be fine. And the others?”

“Wufei is in the centre of the crowd, keeping a close eye on the stage just in case someone’s worked out our little ploy. Duo is guarding the rear exits, in case anyone tries to escape when they shouldn’t. I’m worried though.”

“About what?”

“Neither Lord Trieze or Lady Une are anywhere to be found. Trowa, you don’t think he’d go about the assassination himself?”

Trowa paused, thinking. “It would be bold of him, but perhaps that’s how he prefers to deal with such things. It would be all the better for us, though, if we could catch him red-handed.”

Both men returned to the alcove to find Mariemaia watching the stage with excitement. “Mister Quatre, you’re back. Just in time: I’ve spotted father.”

“Where?”

“Over there,” Mariemaia said, pointing towards the main entrance to the theatre. There, half hidden by one of the massive wooden support poles, was Trieze talking to…Dorothy Catalonia! Quatre’s breath hitched. “Dorothy?”

“Oh, do you know my cousin?”

Quatre couldn’t have been more shocked if his arm had suddenly fallen off. He turned to Mariemaia in disbelief. “What did you just say? About your cousin?”

Mariemaia blinked in surprise at Quatre’s reaction. “Dorothy Catalonia is my cousin. Well, actually, she’s Father’s cousin. We don’t see her much, though. After her parents died, Father thought it would be best if she started working here in Kyoto. She teaches music, I believe. She always was very talented.”

So Mariemaia doesn’t know what really happened to Dorothy, thought Quatre. But it’s all falling into place. Trieze must have sold her into this…

“Mariemaia, are your father and Dorothy close?”

The girl frowned. “I’m not sure. I really shouldn’t say, but…”

“But what?”

“Well, she never writes us. Not even at New Years. And when Father comes to visit her, she never sends any word back with him which I think is a little rude.”

“Quatre,” hissed Trowa on his other side. “Do you realise what this means? This is why we couldn’t find Trieze’s spy during this last week. She was under our nose all the time.”

“No, not Dorothy. She wouldn’t. We’ll talk to her: maybe she can help us.”

Trowa sighed at his friend’s na?vet?. “Very well.” He turned to where the woman in question had been standing. There was no one there.

“If we can find her, that is.”


{ { {


Relena held her hand high in the air, the fan open, waiting, calming herself. The fact that Trowa was nowhere to be found as they were about to perform worried her, but she told herself there was nothing she could do now and that he would be here in time for his part. All she could do now was stand there, in the centre of the stage, waiting for the screen to rise, revealing her to the audience.

The music started, the screen rose. Suddenly, Relena was confronted with hundreds of faces, all fixed on her. But she saw none of them: her face blank, she began the carefully rehearsed steps of her dance.

As the dance progressed, in some part of her mind, Relena allowed herself to sympathise with the part she was playing. She was a princess, in love with a samurai warrior who was below her class and thus, out of her reach. But by a chance of fate, they’d met and fallen in love. Now she was singing her love as she waited for her samurai to return from a mission that - ironically - her father, the Emperor, had sent him on.

The song drew towards an end and Relena dropped slowly to the floor and closed her eyes, where she would lie as if asleep. At this point, Relena held her breath. This was when Trowa - her lover - was meant to appear from the stage right, clasping his heart as he died from a wound to the chest. To her delight, right on time, she heard the few strained lines he gave before he ‘died‘. But they sounded wrong…different, somehow, from what they’d practiced. Sadder, almost. She would’ve given anything to open her eyes, but she was meant to remain ‘asleep’ until her lover collapsed beside her and she awoke to find him dead in her arms.

The music reached it’s climax and Relena felt the soft thud of Trowa falling ‘dead’ beside her. She opened her eyes and, with a soft cry of lament, took him into her arms.

Only to freeze in horror.

The man she was holding, the man she’d found lying beside her on the stage, wasn’t Trowa.

It was Heero.


{ { {


Quatre couldn’t sit still. At any other time, he’d be enraptured by Relena’s dancing and singing, but not now. Not with thoughts of Dorothy as a traitor running around in his head, threatening to drive him crazy.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, standing.

“But Mister Winner, you’ll miss the important part,” protested Mariemaia.

“I won’t be a moment.”

But out in the corridor, things weren’t any clearer to him. In fact, without the distractions of the performance, he felt even more confused.

“You look perplexed, Mister Winner.”

He looked up in shock. “Miss Dorothy?”

Well, it looked like Miss Dorothy, for the most part. But her face was drawn, haggard-looking and her eyes were half-closed, as if she were asleep on her feet.

“Miss Dorothy, are you alright?”

“No, Quatre,” she said, sadly. “I am not alright.”

The use of his first name was almost as disconcerting as her words. “Why? Does this have something to do with Trieze Kushrenada?”

Dorothy laughed bitterly. “I should have guessed you’d figure it out. Did Mariemaia tell you or did you work it out for yourself? No matter. It won’t change anything now. It’s too late for me.”

“Dorothy…?”

He never got to say anymore. Suddenly, as if she were a puppet whose strings had been cut, Dorothy collapsed, her eyes rolling back in her head. It was only thanks to good reflexes that Quatre was able to catch her before she hit the floor.

“Dorothy! What’s wrong?”

She stirred in his arms and blinked in awareness. “Poison,” she said weakly. “Trieze must have known…I’d betray him. Quatre, I’m dying.”

“No,” he said, desperately, blinking back tears. “You won’t. I won’t let you.”

Dorothy smiled. “Not your fault,” she gasped out. “I choose this. I couldn’t kill Heero Yuy. Trieze wanted me to but I told him I couldn’t do it. Still, I think I’ve accidentally betrayed you anyway.” She struggled for air and Quatre told her not to go on but she defied him. “I looked towards your alcove and I saw Trowa dressed as Heero. It must have shown on my face. Trieze must know something is going on.”

“Dorothy, save your strength. Don’t talk.”

“You’re right,” she told him, again in that eerily calm tone. “Too much time has been wasted on talk.” With one hand, she grasped the edges of his kimono, pulling him towards her. When he was so close he could feel her breathing, she kissed him, pressing her lips softly against his. Then, just as suddenly, the movement stopped.

“Dorothy?”

She was lying still in his arms, and her skin was horribly cold to the touch.

“No! Dorothy!” Quatre slumped against her, holding her close. Then arms were around him, pulling him away. Voices were talking, but he couldn’t make out the words. He didn’t even know where he was anymore. Shock, he realised in amazement. This was the beginnings of shock.

“Quatre…Quatre, what happened?”

He blinked and Trowa’s face came into focus. The other man was bent over Dorothy, checking for a pulse. Beside him, Mariemaia was blinking in disbelief.

“Poison,” Quatre murmured.

“Her heart’s still beating. There may be time yet. What kind of poison?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Mariemaia was bending down now, also, looking curiously at Dorothy’s pale face and sniffing. “It smells like silver berry.”

“What?”

She sniffed the air some more. “Yes, that’s definitely silver berry. It grows on our property and I’d know the smell anywhere. It’s very distinctive, very sweet.”

“Is there an antidote?” asked Quatre, grabbing Mariemaia’s arms.

“Yes,” she told him confidently. “And I know how to make it. But I need to get supplies and we have to go somewhere to prepare it.”

Trowa began to pick up Dorothy but Quatre stopped him.

“Let me take her.”

“Are you sure you’re up to it? You were nearly passed out a second ago.”

“I’m fine now,” said Quatre and he did, indeed, feel stronger. He had to be: Dorothy needed him. “I’ll take her and go with Mariemaia. You go tell Heero that Trieze is on to the plan. Get him somewhere safe until we can think of a new strategy. But we may already be too late.”


{ { {


The screen fell and the stage was plunged into darkness. As soon as she was sure she wouldn’t be seen from the crowd, Relena dropped Heero as if he’d burnt her.

“What in the name of the Gods do you think you’re doing?”

“Relena, I can see you’re upset,” Heero whispered into the dark. “But I don’t have time to explain.”

“Explain what exactly? There’s so much to explain. Like what are you doing here? And where is Trowa?”

“Shhh.”

Relena placed her hands on her hips. “No, I will not be quiet…”

“Relena, I think I hear something.”

Suddenly, Relena went quiet and her senses went into overdrive. It occurred to her that they were in the dark and may possibly be the only people within 20 metres. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and her skin broke out in goosebumps.

Then she heard it: the shuffling of feet. Just a few seconds before something hard and heavy made contact with the back of her neck and she fell to the floor, unconscious.


{ { {


Wufei saw Trowa’s signal and moved straightaway, edging his way along the side of the theatre and up onto the stage.

“Hey,” a woman’s voice called. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Wufei opened his mouth to speak when Trowa appeared at the woman’s side. “It’s okay, Cathy, he’s a friend. Could you turn on the stage lights for me?”

“What? But the second act isn’t ready to go yet and the screen is still down. And I can’t find Relena or your other friend, either. I didn’t see them leave the stage.”

“Quick, turn on the lights.”

Cathy shrugged and did so. As the stage was flooded with light Wufei swore. “Dammit, we were too late.”

Lying there, in the centre of the stage was Heero, flat on his stomach and obviously unconscious. Relena was nowhere to be found.

“Heero,” Trowa said, running over. He placed his hand against the man’s back to turn him over and stopped.

“What is it?”

Trowa raised his hand. It was covered in blood. On closer inspection, both men could now see that Heero had been stabbed in the middle of his lower back. “We have to get him out of here,” said Trowa.

“Trieze must have been and gone. And where is the woman…Relena?”

Trowa frowned. “I don’t know. One thing at a time. I’ll take care of Heero - you go find Duo and meet me at the Ichikoko Teahouse. And hurry: Trieze is already one step ahead of us. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”



Author's Note: Ooooh, intrigue. Now what? Although I must apologise for putting Heero in a costume and on stage, of all things. But in a strange way, I kinda had a giggle at that. And trust me, there may not be any chance to giggle in the next chapter. Relena's kidnapped...Heero's injured. Honestly, how are they going to get out of this?