The Woman's Piano Pt. One

[Desert Bloom]

Authoresses Note: I feel so lazy and undedicated to my fics its horrid. Yes, I am starting a new multipart. ^^; Fortunately, my horrible attendance with such expeditions has one thing going for it - I wrote this fic originally as a completely different thing with different characters and everything for a friend, and then, after realizing how much it has in common with the Gundam Wing universe, I made a few minor changes and am now posting it here. I've already written the first three parts and just need to change those/quirk with it a bit. It's a sort of spy/espionage type romance, except that it takes place mostly in a high school.....well, you'll just have to read it to get it. Enjoy! ^___^





The downpour came as a quick surprise for Heero, who was caught a couple blocks away from his father?s shop, but Heero didn?t mind it. Time had taught him that sometimes, when you need a quiet place to think and just mull over life for a while, there was nothing better than the solitude of the rain. Ironically, he supposed, the only reason he liked the rain was because he had the streets all to himself when it rained, which was because everyone else had enough sense to go inside and not come down with pneumonia or something along those lines that came with the hacking cough and the bed-ridden state for weeks. He would take it as it came.

He would?ve been quite content in walking along in that sort of pondering frame of mind for as long as he could, but was forced to come out of it eventually, for a paper suddenly smacked into his knee. Curious, he knelt on the pavement and picked it up, trying to keep it flapping from the wind, studying the wet and smeared scribbles that had transpired all over the paper.

His own rebel and punk ways had become evident on his attire now, with his clothes usually consisting of black clothes all around. He?d kept the habit up today, what with the long black jacket that went down to his knees and the baggy pants that he was sure was probably, in all logic, two sizes too big for him ? the point being that he looked the opposite of all that have to do with art and the like, basically everything that was beautiful and captured a loveliness of some form. That was what people mistook about him, the fact that he had a gentle side that was actually the dominating factor in his personality and philosophy. And now, as he looked down at the soaked paper in his hand, he felt a subtle admiration for the absolute wonder that was portrayed on the pages ? enough to take his breath away, and it did.

?Excuse me??

?Oh.? A face peered down at him as he looked up. A very pretty face, actually, his age too, but he tried not to think of that.

The girl held out her hand and smiled faintly. ?I?m sorry. The wind?s very strong right now and I lost control of that one.?

Her observation was in total truth right then, as the wind was blowing rather strongly. Heero had some trouble keeping his two feet planted on the ground because of the gust?s commotion, and her considerably smaller frame seemed no match for nature?s fury.
He placed the paper in her hand, slowly getting to his feet, and then noticing that she was blushing.

Before he could figure out why, a particularly rough gale passed through, knocking her clean off her feet and into him, her form fitting perfectly into his. Heero blushed as well, but it was mostly because somehow in that mess his free hand had been thrown around her side. Both of them were rather quick to break out of the hold.

?I suggest you get out of the rain.? He suggested awkwardly.

Under her arm she carried a folder ? a now soaked folder ? and it was within this soaked folder that she, fumblingly, placed the soaked folder in. Looking back up to him, she shrugged carelessly. ?I kind of like the rain.?

He chuckled. ?So do I. Umm?. may I ask what your drawing was of??

?Sure, I don?t mind if you ask.? A pause. ?Oh! Its?well?. something very wet now.?

?It?s a woman playing a piano, isn?t it?? He paused, eyes detailing it further. ?I like the way you did the eyes. You probably worked the longest on them, right? It looks like something straight of Nori William?s* paintings.?

She looked up very quickly, observant eyes studying him.




?I live alone at the moment, actually. My brother supports me, but he?s always away on business. It?s always just me and the servants.?

?Servants? Wow. Are you rich or something??

She shifted her position somewhat on the bench they?d taken as their seats, both of them not possibly more uncaring of the rain that plagued them from the farthest reaches of the heavens. ?Rich? I?m not sure about that. Money wise, no. I don?t have any actually money to myself. Rich in other things? I?m a lucky individual.?

?You draw beautifully. It?s awfully lucky to draw like that.?

?So where you learn about Nori Williams??

Heero leaned back deeper into the back of the bench, folding his arms behind his head and staring somewhat listlessly off into space as he considered his next words. She then leant forward, hands clasped between her knees, looking back at him and awaiting an answer.

?My grandfather.?

?Your grandfather what??

?He was big on art. He taught me everything about it, and he was quite a painter himself.? Not really wanting to get on that topic that much, he continued on to another subject. ?And you??




She couldn?t resist a smile, the beginnings of which gradually worked around her expression until it was a wide grin that as far as Heero was concerned, was beautiful if only for the evident happiness portrayed there. ?There was a point when I was younger where I was always moving about. Drawing was the one constant ? it stayed the same.?

?Moving around??

?Yes. My brother ? ?

?You said he was rich.?

A long sigh here. ?He is.?

Was it just him, or was there something wrong about her brother? He almost wanted to ask her if the brother had ever done anything to her but stopped himself. There was just something about the girl that projected a profound strength, and then, at the same time, a deep vulnerability that he wanted to make sure didn?t hold her back.

Yeah, she seemed uncomfortable about the subject of her brother. And he didn?t want to pry further.

?Oh god.? She said suddenly, throwing a glance at the watch around her wrist.

He blinked. ?What??

?I?m so sorry. I?ve got to go.?

And before another word was lost between them, she was up and beginning to leave. Heero had just enough wits about him to jump to his feet and yell out to her diminishing form, ?Hey, wait a minute! What?s your name??

She glanced back over her shoulder just long enough to give the answer of, ?Relent,? and then he lost her to the fog that always comes with the encompassment of rain.

?Hey, Heero!?

Heero nearly jumped ten feet in the air as the familiar voice was broadcasted behind him into his ear.

?Duo, I?d appreciate it if you?d stop doing that.?

?Doing what??

?Never mind.?

?By the way?? Duo leaned on Heero's shoulder, trying to seem as if he wasn?t really interested in his next question, even though Heero, subject to the knowledge of the ins and outs of Duo, knew exactly that he was, no buts about it. ?Who was that girl? I didn?t know you had a girlfriend.?

?A guh??

?She was pretty. Say, she wouldn?t happen to have a sister, would she? Heero? Heero, where you going??





Treize?s new mansion spared no expenses. Relena wasn?t sure if she could get used to how incredibly large the place was, but she was, nonetheless, thankful to him for the extent he had gone to take care of her.

?I?ll get lost a hundred times.? She told him over the telephone, smiling jokingly. ?Don?t expect me to be making you anything in the kitchen if you come to visit if I can?t find the kitchen in the first place.? Jokes could be made with him ? as Zech?s business partner he?d doubled as her uncle while Zechs had been around, and this history with him made her comfortable enough to interact as such, even when she had doubts about him as she did now.

He had merely smiled that enchanting smile she?d never been able to decode, shrugging her words off like he always did. ?You always burn it anyway,? And she couldn?t argue with him anyway because it was true.

That memory came rushing back to her as she entered the main hallway, still having to pause for a moment and ponder which direction she should travel in to find her room.

?It?s to the right. Five doors down, then there?s a staircase. You take that up, dear sister.?

Relent turned where she was in the threshold, her long dark hair swishing behind her, questioning eyes focusing on her brother as he came through another doorway to her left. ?Treize.? She said breathlessly.

Beside Treize, she always felt so ? and this was hard to explain ? so decidedly common. His perfect posture, how he never slacked, the way his voice curved over the syllables and pronunciations of the English language with a slight sneer and little chuckle always ? it all screamed of regal, and yet did nothing of the sort, because regal people never scream, merely chastise. And she hated it when her thoughts rambled on poetically, spouting nonsense. It was true though ? Treize was everything Zechs had been, before his untimely disappearance. Treize recognized that fact and had even told her to think of him as his replacement if she liked, for he loved her like a sister would.

?What?re you doing here??

?You seem upset about it.?

?I?m not.? She forced a smile. ?I?m just surprised. What?s going on? I haven?t seen you in person for a few years now, so I wonder if anything bad has happened.?

He seemed to be considering his next words where he stood. ?I?ll talk to you about it later tonight. Let you dry off, for I see you?re soaked.?

She dried off, and then, after finding her room, sat down at the easel located by the window that overlooked the gardens. Steadily, she began to transfer her woman over the piano drawing to the canvas, though not able to keep her mind off of a punk with a kind smile and an appreciation for art.

He made his next appearance three hours later, awakening her from her philosophical stupor that always became her in her trance-like state of work.

?It?s a favor, actually. I?d like you to do me a favor.? He said, once again making an entrance in a threshold of a room.

She, very carefully, set down her pencil against the canvas, looking up to him slowly. It occurred to her how, even after meeting him again after so much time, they?d never even so much as hugged. It was a strained relationship that was for sure, Treize?s ?brotherly? interactions always seeming so forced and ? calculated. Yes, calculated.

It was this musing about Treize?s calculated actions that brought forward her half-joke.

?What? You want me to seduce someone or something?? A snort here, and she turned her attention wistfully to the window

?Yes, in so many words.?

Very quickly she had returned her eyes to him, disbelief evident. ?What??

?You?re starting Domino High School in about a week, yes??

She shrugged. ?Yes.?

?There is a boy there that holds a possession of interest to me. Or rather he is the possession?.we?ll figure that out in due time, with your help, of course.?

?What? I won?t do it, Treize. Go hire some whore of yours.?

If Treize felt the stab of accusation in her last sentence, he paid no heed to it, moving forward in that forever-regal bearing of his, a sparkling thing in his one hand catching her attention. Her eyes stopped, fixated on the thing, and when he noticed this he raised it so she could see it fully.

?That?s mother?s necklace.?

He nodded.

?It was supposed to go to me after her death.?

?Perhaps.?

?Perhaps nothing!?

?Do you want it? I just want you to get to know him, that?s all. Not a seducer even, just a best friend maybe. Or just a friend. Someone that means something to him, at any rate. His name is Heero Yuy.?

?You want me to lie.?

He shrugged.

Cool calculation. This was what Treize had become, or always had been, toying with emotions and setting chess-like plans in place, never against using anyone for his deceptive schemes. Did you know, Zechs?

But as Treize slowly put the necklace back in his pocket and flashed her a worn smile, she knew what she had to do. After he?d left the room she, frustrated at basically everything because of anger?s little quirks, tore out the canvas she?d worked so hard on, balled it up, and threw it in the wastebasket, not even bothering to start another.





Authoresses Last Word: I admit it; Mars was somewhat of my inspiration. If you haven't read that wonderful manga book something is wrong with you and you need to get off the Internet right now and go get yourself one. Lime/subtle lemon/fullblown lemon addicts will not be displeased. And now I await my endorsement check....

[Desert Bloom]

I forgot to add a few things there: Nori Williams is not a real person, as far as I know. I just made 'em up. And I said that Relena has dark features....like you all know, she does not. My apologies; it's a typo that I missed somehow. ^^; Just ignore my mistakes and imagine the characters the right way.