*~*?There was a long silence. At last Frodo spoke with hesitation.
?I believed that you were a friend before the letter came,? he said, ?or at least I wished to. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that I thought the servant of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would ? well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.?
?I see,? laughed Strider. ?I look foul and feel fair. Is that it? All that is gold does not glitter, not all those that wander are lost.?*~*
Authoresses Note: I worked really hard on this one, and personally think it?s the better of all the parts. Thanks so much to everybody that has been giving me reviews! If anyone is confused about the timeline, let me say simply that nine years in all have passed since the war by now, and Relena is twenty-four, as are all the pilots and most of the other characters besides Zechs, Sally, Noin, ect.
*Heero?s eyes ARE blue; don?t know why I thought otherwise! ^___^
***Part Four of Two Steps: To Meet Again***
I woke earlier than intended that morning because of a loud, annoying beep that sounded from my bedside table.
Groaning, I blinked several times, my face still against the pillow, and then finally rolled over, eyes on the ceiling. Rubbing my eyes, I blinked several times, as I focused, and the ceiling eventually became clearer, more than a disturbing blur of white. I then rolled over towards my bedside table, whereupon the vid-phone, which sat there, had its panel blinking an angry red. With my one hand I held back my mess of hair, and with the other I slapped the panel, and then lay back into the pillow, back to my view of the ceiling, sighing, and waiting for the call to come through. Slowly, I began to throw away the hazy way of sleep and regain the logical mobility of awareness.
Hilde?s smiling face slowly blurred onto the screen, and, with a small click, came into focus. ?Morning.? She said, cheerfully, grinning.
I threw a glance to the digital clock by the vid-phone, blinked, and, looking back to Hilde, pointedly said, ?Hilde, it?s 5 in the morning.?
She nodded. ?I know.?
I looked towards the window, and found that the sun had just barely begun its rise to the peak of the sky. It was a very pretty sight, actually, with half a golden orb peering over the top of the trees, casting a lavender hue on the horizon behind it, and painting the clouds various schemes of blue. Smiling softly at the simply beauty, and wondering at how carelessly romantic I really was, I, at length, turned back to Hilde. ?The sun isn?t even up,? I said, but was now smiling instead of frowning.
?I know, Relena, I know. Believe me, I know how secret this is and all??
?Yeah? How?d you know?? I interrupted, raising an eyebrow. ?Even Noin wasn?t informed.?
?Really, Relena, you aren?t good at simple conversation at all. ?Informed?. All you had to say was ?told?, you know.?
I laughed. ?Well, how?d you know??
?Duo isn?t comfortable unless he hears from Wufei at least once a month. Now, I know how important this is and all, and how top secret, but I??
?Hilde, it?s fine, really. But why five in the morning?? I asked, cutting her off.
She laughed, grinning. ?I was going to get to that.?
?Well, what is it??
Growing somewhat impatient, for, admittedly, I was not the most charismatic person at this ungodly hour of the morning; I let out a long sigh while awaiting Hilde?s answer. Her next few words, however, left me feeling extremely guilty and happy at the same time, guilty for being so grumpy, and happy for Hilde.
?I?m pregnant, Relena.?
We talked for a long while after that, talked and talked and talked, and daresay talked some more. She was expecting twins sometime next year, one of who had already been named last night.
?Duo named the first in about a matter of five seconds.? She said, smiling from ear-to-ear. ?Violet. I?m supposed to name the second, but I still have no idea what to do.?
I leaned back against the bed, eyes on the ceiling once more. ?Hmmm?let me see?.? I said slowly, pondering. ?Perhaps I can solve this dilemma.?
Hilde looked at me expectantly, crossing her arms. ?Make it good, Relena! I?m at my wits end.?
Well. What did every mother secretly wish her little girl were? Oh, it varied, but didn?t they want their little bundle of joy to be sweet? Perhaps not innocently sweet, almost in a na?ve fashion, but at least kind, the type who would care willingly for another. Wandering around the storage of my mind, I searched and searched, before finally coming up the perfect idea, hidden away in the more romantic aspect of things. Whether or not Hilde would think it perfect remained to be seen, but at the very least I knew another sweet young girl, sharply intelligent, kind, and who deserved to have her name live on somehow.
?Anne.? I proposed, glancing nervously at Hilde for her reaction.
Hilde fairly beamed. ?That?s perfect!? She said, her grin widening, if that was at all possible.
?You think so??
She nodded. ?Yeah. Anne! Duo will love it.?
For a little longer our conversation carried on, until finally the inevitable ?HEY HILDE! I NEED HELP!? roared out from somewhere inside the house. Hilde smiled apologetically, explaining that that was Duo?s cry for help with a customer. At my inquiry about the state of the repair shop that they ran together, she said hurriedly, very well, thank you, and then ran off.
I, in turn, shut the vid-phone off, and, with a glance at the window, saw the sun had risen a while ago, and was nearing that peak of the sky rapidly. Stumbling upwards from bed, I flung open one of the drawers of my dresser, and pulled out and on a T-shirt. But before I could continue getting dressed, something in me clicked, as I realized, with a dawning slowness, that, man, Hilde was pregnant.
That information was so shocking that, once fully conceived, it made me collapse backwards onto the bed. I punched the air, and let out a yell, beautifully wild and impromptu:
?SCREW YOU, BILLINGTON! HILDE IS PREGNANT AND THAT?S SOMETHING YOU CAN?T RUIN!?
The air seemed to vibrate with my words, as my small defiance echoed throughout the room. Smiling with a strange sort of satisfaction, I proceeded to get dressed for the day?s events.
Well there, laughing green eyes. Top that.
Considering the strict scrutiny the rest of the world had placed on me, I decided it might not be in my best interests to go outside with a sign on my back (reading: Relena Peacecraft ? look at all the fancy clothing!) so I somehow or another found a baseball cap and a pair of dark sunglasses among my cluttered mess of a suitcase. Putting them on, I twirled around for the bathroom mirror, feeling perfectly disguised and all, for, in a pair of faded, torn jeans, and a T-shirt that exposed my midriff, I was, well, perfectly disguised.
Leaving the room with my suitcase under my arm, I tried to remember where Wufei?s room was. After refreshing the room number in my head, I headed a little ways down the hall and rapped on rm. 348.
A few long minutes passed. Tapping my feet, I impatiently glanced from my watch (8:12) to the door, down the hall, and then back to the door. At length, doubt rose in my mind. I was very seldom clumsy with memory, but there was the odd exception, and I had been too busy feeling sorry for both Wufei and I last night to be completely in sorts and ready to correctly receive a room number.
Then, however, just as I had my mind made up to go the lobby counter and ask, the door opened quickly with a slam, and I found myself on the wrong end of a gun.
Taking a step back, I blinked, and sucked in my breath, nearly tripping over my suitcase, the circumstances rushing through my head for comprehension, but somehow missing and barely being even seen. There was the gun, pointed right at my forehead, and after a moment of deliberate thought and concentration, I realized that it was Wufei behind it. I could barely see his face, for the presence of the gun commanded more of my attention, but nevertheless I knew it was he. I could tell. I simply knew.
?Get your hands up.? Wufei ordered strictly, his voice so flat and emotionless it was eerie.
I blinked. ?Wufei, it?s me??
?GET THEM UP!?
He was pointing a gun at me. One armed, ready to administer death at a moment?s notice. The profound sort of fear, the betrayal, was astoundingly breathtaking. I felt the sensation of a sweeping, burning anger, as I had felt before, when confronted with a name and green eyes, the anger fueled with doubt and worry, pushing upwards through me, swarming my mind and clouding it from reasonable logic.
Logic. Reason. Peace.
Gulping, I did as commanded. As I raised the right arm, though, I somehow or another used my elbow to bump my glasses off, to the floor, exposing my trademark blue eyes. Blinking them at Wufei, I proposed a question: Did my disguise fool you, or are you a betrayer?
Like Heero?
The next moment seemed to stretch by, as, at length, the gun lowered and I saw Wufei?s strong black eyes for the first time since last night. Black unto blue, for a moment, neither of us daring to move, and then it was done and gone.
?Jesus, Relena?? His arm and, the weapon, which it bore, fell limply to his side. He let out a long sigh and leaned against the doorway, shading his eyes with his other hand. ?I thought you were??
?Did I fool you?? I asked, knowing my words were somewhat humorous under the conditions and half-smiling because of it.
He nodded weakly, rubbing his forehead and staring at the floor. Oddly enough, this was the time that I noted that his hair was back in a ponytail.
Well. First things first.
?You?re awfully paranoid for something as ordinary as staying in a hotel.? I said, trying to sound casual. ?I had no idea that the dangers were to that extreme.?
He looked up at me slowly, his black eyes questioning, somewhat shadowed under his hand.
I continued. ?Did Quatre tell you it was this?.? I sighed, breaking off, lost in the various adjectives I could have used, too tired of everything to search for the right one.
?Heero was the one who called me.?
The horrid feel of burning dizziness had been slowly withdrawing, but at the utterance of the name Heero it was anew, worse than ever. I wouldn?t say that I loathed the name, but I was beginning to connect it with pain and hurt.
?So?so, who did you think it was, Wufei?? I asked, glancing down at my hands.
Even as I said it, I knew he wasn?t going to answer me.
We had a long day of travel in front of us, having to first catch a bus, and then a taxi, shortly thereafter a train, and, lastly, a shuttle. So we proceeded to take this long list of transportation, and I, during the entire time, attempted to catch up on some sleep I had been sorely missing. My responsibility, my job, was not the most accommodating to the hours I wished to work, and thusly slumber, and so I didn?t always get the most sleep. That, combined with the late hours I had spent with Wufei, and Hilde?s early waking, made me so that I was in dire need of just a few hours of nice, energizing sleep. So, to put it simply, I slept. I slept through the bus, the taxi, and the train, waking only to switch between these.
Wide-awake by the time the shuttle had taken off, I gazed out the window, Wufei besides me, as I thought long, but barely allowed myself any recollection of my long thinking when I was done. This was an odd way of thinking, but I didn?t mind, merely gazing out the window and into the void, my one hand supporting my chin, while the other occasionally touched the glass window timidly to see if it would break and I would be sucked out into space. It never did break.
Why had they believed Billington so easily, with barely a second thought? I had always been there for them, working round the clock to make sure that the people were safe, comfortable. It didn?t always work out the way I planned, but it was so hard, and if I could accomplish it on the strength of my wishes alone, I would have that ideal already. Peace.
I had been with them for nine years! Nine! But, as soon as some newcomer came along, spouting nonsense, they would run to him, when he wouldn?t do anything for them at all, besides perhaps dishonor a women or two and then eventually conquer and suppress all in the long run.
But I cared; I gave my heart to the efforts of peace, and would give my blood if I could, and if it helped.
Fools. They were all fools.
And so I wondered, slowly, if it was true, if people were too foolish to have peace.
Too foolish to deserve it.
Wufei?s voice was at my ear, soft and gentle. ?It?s a strange thing, space,? He said, and I turned to him.
I nodded, slowly smiling. In truth, it had not been that long ago that I had muddled my way through sleep, and so I was still using much of my energy to focus on the world of the awake. Therefore, many of my actions seemed very tired.
His annoyingly pitying gaze swept over me, and he shook his head, simultaneously closing the magazine he had been reading. ?You need more sleep.?
I shook my head. ?I?ve just slept for about eight hours straight.?
He shrugged his shoulders. I turned back to the window for a moment, but then thought better of it, and looked to him again. ?What were you saying about space being strange?? I questioned, and he once again shut the magazine to return his attention to me.
?Space?it is a strange thing, Relena. Strange to me, now, even though during the?? He stopped, shaking his head, and tried again. ?Many years ago, I only felt comfortable out there, in the black. I was a fighter. I had no cause, but I searched for one, and perhaps the search was my most defining purpose.?
I widened my eyes, fascinated. Did Heero picture himself as a retired fighter, too? Or was his problem that he could not detach himself from the fight? But then again, being attached to a fight meant caring about something.
He went on. ?Now I am uncomfortable in the dark of space. If I got back into a mobile?? He stopped again, and we both smiled, amused at our secrecy. ?If I were to get back in the fight, perhaps things would be different. But now everything merely feels like the after of the fight, merely AFTER, if you understand that. Nothing else can compare to the fight. I??
I watched his face intently, watched as his expression went to explaining, and then in need of explaining. His eyes questioned me, in a sense, staring at me with such focus that I could not help but answer.
?I can?t ever say I felt that way. I?ve always hated space.?
?Huh.? He nodded slowly, moving his head away from me, leaving me to realize just how close we had been. Then he leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes as if to sleep. At first I thought he was going to fall into the land of slumber, and thusly turned my eyes back to the dead black.
His next words were issued in a sharp outtake of breath, quiet, barely above a whisper. ?I will survive.?
I blinked, quickly glancing up and over to him. ?What was that??
?Oh. I am sorry, Relena.? He said, snapping his eyes open. I wondered what he was sorry about. ?I did not think you would hear me.?
?Well, what was it?? I asked, knowing I was pressing him and not caring.
?Hmm.? He was still leaning against the seat, so that now, instead of my looking up at him, he was looking up at me, and I down upon him. For some reason or another, I felt the smallest of discomforts at this arrangement, but quickly shrugged it off. ?It?s something Duo told me about.?
I nodded, to show him I was listening, and I was, for I was no less than fascinated. Wufei had certainly gained my respect as a wonderful friend over the last day. But there was doubt in his eyes, and his voice seemed much quieter, as he continued on.
?Do you remember when Heero stopped the massive cannon your??
?My brother. Yes.?
Wufei opened his mouth, closed it, blinked several times, and then, finally, just when I had thought he was resolved to say nothing at all, said with clear decisiveness, ?He yelled those words to give him inspiration to do it.?
I blinked, raising an eyebrow. ?I will survive??
?Yes. Duo told me this is so. He?? Wufei stopped, looking behind me, and it took me a moment to figure out just what he was looking at. Then I saw it was out the window, the black of space, as I glanced out myself, and then back to Wufei, just in time to catch his face as he voiced his last words, said with more doubt than ever before, as he focused on the void behind me, rather than me. ?He cared enough to do it, Relena.?
I nodded slowly, mesmerized by his words, the meaning of it slowly going through my mind. ?I see,? I said, and leaned back into my seat, thinking hard and wishing passionately that I really could see.
Shortly thereafter we arrived at colony L-4, whereupon which we took the last taxi to the Winners Corporation building. Looking out the window, I realized that I had let states here get far too awful, for the streets were dirty, the homeless many, and empathy too few. Shaking my head, I sighed, and shut my eyes, trying to block it out. Lately it seemed like everything was coming together to try and show me what a job I had been doing, and that it wasn?t something to be proud of.
It took us only a matter of twenty minutes or so, and so the ride was done, the long trip over. It had taken no less than ten hours or so, which seemed no less than forever, for when I stood at the doorstep of the Winner Corporation, my watch informed me that it was 10:43. Sighing, I stood and watched the tall skyscraper of a building, the ponderings of what would happen over the next day or so rushing through my mind. Then, as Wufei went in front of me, and disappeared into the revolving doors, I realized I was probably thinking too much and followed him.
The building opened up into a large hall, with many an architectural amazement and wondrous adornment. The lavish decorations would have normally captivated my attention, but today I felt very disoriented, and just generally disregarded everything around me, besides the desk towards the end of the hall.
There was a secretary there, twirling a pen and occasionally jabbing it at paperwork with short, vexed movements. As I approached her she looked up at me so quickly, nearly nervously, that I started, but regained my composure, and asked, shading my eyes with my baseball cap, ?Excuse me, miss, but I need to talk to Mr. Winner.?
She nodded, but said, as if reciting something, ?Mr. Winner is out at the moment, but if you are Reli, I can call his sister.?
Reli. I recognized the shortened form of my name immediately, and, with a glance at Wufei, who had taken both my suitcase and his own in his hands and was now setting them down, nodded assent to the secretary.
?And who is the name of the man behind you, miss? To confirm that you are Reli you must give me the proper name of a man who is supposed to be with you.? At the end of her last sentence there was a small pop, and a great wad of gooey pink bubblegum was suddenly seen lolling around in her mouth.
?My name is Wufei.? Wufei said from behind me.
We had passed the test with flying colors, so she paged his sister, and within the simple matter of ten minutes or so a cheerful young lady. We were made to understand that she was Quatre?s youngest older sister, twenty-five, thank you very much, but she liked to think she looked younger, and her name was Teresa, though she didn?t mind it in the slightest if we recognized her as Tera.
This enjoyable sister of Quatre?s showed us to our rooms. Since Wufei was masquerading as my bodyguard, Quatre had it set up that our rooms were right next to each other. Wufei went inside his own, and I had my hand on my doorknob, but a sudden thought stopped me, as I turned to the retreating back of Tera, and questioned quickly, ?Where is Quatre, exactly??
She shrugged, fixing her powerfully black eyes on me as she turned back to me, eyes that found me instantly thinking of Wufei in their?honesty? ?He wouldn?t tell us.? She explained. ?He was supposed to meet you, but he got the call this morning, and found it very pressing.? Shrugging once more, she gave me a look that I took to mean that she too was utterly confounded, and then turned on her heel, her long black hair swaying behind her.
I nodded to her, though by this time she wasn?t looking and the movement was wasted. Eyes on the doorknob, I began to turn it again, but stopped as another thought entered my mind. Raising my eyes once, I opened my mouth, but found she had already turned the corner. So I looked down, opened the door, and as I entered my room realized that she probably wouldn?t be informed about Heero, and that his presence inside this building was probably a five-way secret.
In all respects I was reminded of the night before with Wufei, for rain greeted me as I entered, pounding loudly upon the window, and encasing the outside view with a thick fog. Sighing, I glanced at the television, and after a moment of wandering thought, realized slowly that I was not in the mood for some droll news program about my daring escapades with men of questionable character, and so forth collapsed onto the bed, sighing and rolling my eyes heavenward to focus on the ceiling fan whirring above. Rubbing my forehead, and pushing myself upwards so that my head was more comfortable on the pillow, I indulged myself in romantic thoughts that would have provided enough material for endless news programs about certain escapades.
Heero. What did I expect, to see him the very moment I entered the building, to have him jump into my arms and apologize about how awful he had been, setting me up and all? That was, if he had set me up, which I wasn?t sure about at all. Then again, if he hadn?t set me up, what had happened?
I let out a long sigh, and rolled onto my stomach, face-forward into the pillow. I hadn?t done that much more than sleep the entire day, true, but still I felt tired. So, it was not much longer that I fell into a strange state, that of wanting to sleep very badly, but not daring myself to go all the way through with it, for worry of missing something important. What I should miss, I didn?t know in the slightest.
I had only wanted to be there for Heero. Was that asking for too much?
Perhaps, yes, when that person was an assassin. A heartless assassin, according to some.
At length, I felt a hand on my shoulder, powerful, the strength of it shocking me into alertness. I coughed and turned to see the hand on my shoulder, catching a glimpse of it only long enough to see that it was neither Quatre?s or Wufei?s.
The fact that there was a strange person in the room, with their hand tightly on my shoulder, terrified me. I let out a yell, somehow forming the sound of Wufei?s name, and sat upright quickly, grabbing the hand with my own and attempting to wrench away their grip.
Too strong. My own hand was only half the size of this tanned thing. Done trying, I grimaced as they tightened their grip, almost painfully, and then took hold of my wrist. I was spun around to face this attacker, and as they did so, I formed a hurried plan to spite this accomplice of Billington?s (for what else could it be?), and, as I saw their face, spat in their face.
Heero blinked several times, then let me go and, stepping back, wiped the spit from his eyes. I stared, bewildered, my mouth wide open with surprise, about to say something, but for some reason settling on saying nothing, and it seemed as if Heero had made the same agreement with himself, for while I gaped at him, he merely stood by the window and watched me with as close to surprise as he could manage.
Finally, surprising me even more than his greeting, he was the first one to speak, saying, slowly, his voice as flat as Wufei?s had been in the morning, said, ?I came to?? But then he stopped, as the door was flung open, and a number of gunshots fired off at Heero.
To dodge them all, Heero jumped besides on me on the bed, causing the whole thing to rock. The first shot echoed across the room with a strange whistle, and then stopped at impact of the window, while the second went right into the lamp, knocking it over and having a bright, illuminating flash of light burn across the room and thusly our eyes, before finally blanketing the room in darkness.
At first, I panicked once more, much like I had when Heero had wakened me. Then, however, since my eyes were useless because of the sudden darkness, my ears brought to me the familiar footsteps of Wufei as the samurai pilot stepped a couple steps forward, and said, questioningly, ?Heero??
I breathed a final sigh of relief. ?It?s only?its only Heero.?
I felt, more than heard or saw, Heero issue a long, tired sigh besides me on the bed. He straightened up, and then stood, just as Wufei flicked on the lights and we were all known to each other. Nodding, Wufei put his gun in his pocket.
?I am sorry, Heero. I misjudged and thought you were an attacker.?
I wondered suddenly if maybe Wufei?s eyes were going. True, I knew that was in no way possible, but the thought was instant to the almost comic recognizing of the fact that this was twice the time he had done this.
More likely that he was more stressed out than he had ever been. These were stressful times.
Heero nodded back to Wufei, a simple gesture that the apology was accepted. By his look I half-expected him to thank Wufei for how alert he was being, but of course, no such thing was voiced, and I found myself being the initiator of talk.
?It was my fault?I yelled out. What else was I to think? I?m sorry, though.?
Neither of them said anything to this, not even a movement from Heero, though Wufei did step a little bit further, seating himself besides me on the bed, rather like Heero had been, except that Heero had been on the opposite side of me. I pondered for a little bit, found I had no pleasantries such as weather to talk about, and was about to start questioning Heero when there was a furious knocking.
It took me a full ten minutes to explain to the frazzled servant that the shots had been fired in an accident. It was a difficult thing, really, for I had to give a detailed description that excluded Heero, and that was a hard task indeed, but eventually my persuasive abilities, and my confidence in my persuasive abilities convinced the poor lad. ?Are you sure?? He kept asking, peering behind the door. ?Oh, yes, I?m sure,? I kept saying, not allowing him to come into the room too much for fear he would sight Heero and report a strange man hiding out in my room.
If that was to happen?. I don?t know what Billington would do with the information, but it wouldn?t be good.
Eventually, though, everything was aside, and I had the chance I?d wanted for six years, maybe now seven.
?This is going to be a long discussion.? I observed, taking my seat on the bed once more, and throwing Heero a meaningful glance.
Heero hesitated, and then asked, ?Would you like to go down to the kitchen??
I blinked. ?The kitchen??
He nodded. ?Quatre has a number of secret chambers within this building. One of them is a small place, a kitchen, where no sounds escape from the room. It?s the only place in this building that has, and Quatre wanted us to make ?use of it?.?
I nodded, slowly, and then asked, after a moment of pondering the question, deciding I shouldn?t ask yet, but did anyway, ?Where is Quatre, anyway??
Wufei looked from me to Heero, nodding in agreement. ?I am also wondering about this. His sister said that he had been called this morning, so it must not have been anything planned. Do you know anything about this??
Heero began walking to the door, and turned back to us only when his hand rested on the doorknob. ?Yes, he was invited to a ?meeting.?
I raised my eyebrow, imploring him to go on.
And so he did. ?Billington had a ?deal that cannot be refused?.? He said, and then, fixing me with those strangely hollow, yet bewitching, eyes of his, added, ?It could not be refused, ?or else?.?
Heero led us down a long maze of hallways until we reached a white wall. He gazed at the wall so curiously and with such an amount of concentration that I started to think him possibly mad, but he revealed his intentions and cleared his sanity by pressing his hand upon a certain spot on the wall. There was a small beep, and then what appeared to be a normal wall was proven to be several panels, which spun around each other until they had formed a door.
Gaping for but a moment, I followed both Heero and Wufei as they began their way down the large, dark passageway, stopping again as there was a soft roar behind me, and darkness fell upon the hall, for the strange door had closed, therefore ensuring it?s secrecy. At first I was afraid that I would be forced to walk through darkness until we reached the kitchen, but there was another soft roar and lights flickered on, although where this light came from I couldn?t tell for the life of me.
Finally, there was the door to this kitchen, and I stepped from black halls to whiteness everywhere, wondering cynically if they should just call me ?Nurse Relena, Breaking And Fixing Hearts? and get it over with. The tabloids would love it.
It was, certainly, white, almost sickeningly so, like a hospital. Small too, and it had the feeling of being a prison rather than a sanctuary, for there were no exits besides the one door, which had promptly shut as I had entered, by the will of some artificial machine inside the walls. The only furniture was a small table, and two chairs in the right corner, while in the left dwelt a kitchen counter, several cupboards above the counter, and a refrigerator. A microwave presided on the counter, and that was all.
?Impressive,? Said Wufei, nearly admiringly, standing by the table as if not quite sure what to do.
I took a seat at the kitchen, not tearing my eyes of Heero. He had bent over the refrigerator and was searching for something, but upon not finding whatever that may be, straightened up. He caught my staring and for a moment we were this way, until Wufei wisely noted that we were getting nowhere this way, and asked, ?Yet, I do not understand how this is possible. Why would Quatre need this??
?Not Quatre, his father.? Explained Heero. He turned away from me, as if my staring was a painful thing, and opened a cupboard, rummaging around it.
Wufei took the seat opposite me at long last. ?His father believed in peace.?
?But he did not ignore war. He wanted a safe place to hide his many daughters, and his son, if attack happened.?
?This place feels more like a prison than any safe haven.? I said. ?And it is barely big enough for the three of us.?
Heero shrugged, simultaneously clanking something hard against something equally hard in the cupboard, and then drew his hands out, which both held a soda. He walked to the table and quietly set one down for each of us, making me feel like a guest.
Strange. Heero was going out of his way to not be too sullen. Or at least he was trying to be accommodating.
Wufei noticed this too, and gave Heero a strange look. But he did not question it, as neither did I. ?Why is Quatre meeting with Billington??
I reached my hand across slowly, and then took the soda, it feeling startlingly cold against my hand, icy to the touch. Eyes still on Heero, I took my first sip, watching him as he leaned against the counter, and responded, ?My guess is that he?ll use Quatre. Have him ?donate? some money towards his mobile suit fund.?
The can crunched into itself as I made a fist and looked up quickly, eyes blazing. ?He can?t!?
Heero shook his head. ?He can. Six of Quatre?s sisters are married to members of his organization.?
Long explanations and discussions followed.
One of the first questions on the list was how Heero knew about the set-up. I had been immensely worried about him playing a hand in it, and essentially setting it up, but, if he told the truth, his role was not quite of that importance.
?I was a member of Billington?s organization for awhile, though really working for the Preventers.? He began, locking both of us in turn with a studying gaze, and then continued, ?I was the only one who could get in. Even Noin couldn?t do it. It was very important that I stay on there. I found out about the deal you made with Billington, for a live debate, and overheard some plans to set you up. I did not,? At this he looked to his feet, and I thought he may be lying, for he could not look me directly in the eye, but then he raised his eyes to mine and looked at me so steadily that I was the first to look away, cowering under harsh blue eyes*. ??help him. I don?t know how he knew about?? Stopping, he merely nodded and went on, skipping the end of that sentence.
?Lady Une stressed to me the importance of my staying on as a member there. Since they only knew my name, and there was not even a picture of me, it was possible. I went to the conference to warn you, but realized that if you knew, you would most likely stop the whole thing. Then he would suspect, and it would be over.?
The finer details of the whole awful event were gone over several more times, and Heero somehow maintained his patience as he answered the questionings of both Wufei and I. It seemed, however, that no matter how much we asked, or to what extent the genius of the inquiring was, Heero found a way to answer it, and yet not really answer it the way either of us wanted. Why he told Wufei was still uncertain to me, and something stopped me altogether from asking why he had left those many years ago, disappeared into the night, running from a warm place that was intent only on his own well-being.
I sensed that it was not the right time, not really. Not with Wufei there and all.
?Heero, why have you called us here?? Wufei asked finally, draining his soda can. He spun the thing around absently, watching it as he spoke. ?This explanation was needed. Relena needed it.? He looked up at me, and the can stopped it?s twirling. Then he looked down once more and resumed the annoying habit. ?But, it is not?your style?.to care for such needs.?
Heero seemed to take this as a compliment. ?I have a plan.? He said, and Wufei seemed to nod along to this, as if he had known it.
?What sort of a plan?? I asked, crossing my arms and leaning leisurely back in my chair.
?We cannot waste time, Relena.? His use of my name surprised me, making me look up, my expression wondering. ?His force is strong, and Quatre, when threatened with the well-being of his family, will not attempt anything. He will make the suits, and then Billington will be unbeatable. It is only a matter of time. So, we need to attack.?
I blinked. ?War, you mean??
Wufei interrupted, looking up from the can once more, his eyes dark and meaningful. I glanced from the two men, suddenly feeling like I was somewhat out of my league.
?Of course. There is no other way that Heero knows of.? His voice was so calm, collected, reserved; that it sent chills down my spine.
?Now I am uncomfortable in the dark of space.? He had said. ?If I were to get back into a mobile?? He had stopped, and we had both smiled, supposedly amused at our dark secrets, dark secrets that spun bewitching designs, persuasive in theory, brutal and bloody in coarse, unrefined fact. ?If I were to get back in the fight, perhaps things would be different.?
This chillingly collected voice of his went on, and I listened, transfixed on the words and their meaning, which was meant to be obvious, but was really everything but. ?For, if we don?t strike first, he shall. And this would be a terrible injustice indeed. We are not sure what his true intentions are, but my guess is that he is power-hungry. All he needs is the firepower.?
?I do not believe in war.? I said.
?It?s not war, Relena.? Heero said suddenly, as if he was trying to reclaim the conversation that Wufei had stolen from him, ?We are trying to stop war. It is battle, yes, but not war.?
?And so my brother was needed for battle. Wufei was needed for battle. Quatre was, as well. And I needed to know what would happen, or I would freak out and ruin it all.?
Heero nodded. I looked at him, for a moment, suddenly feeling so small in front of this?coldness. Then, almost as if he was hiding from my gaze, he took a couple steps forward from the counter and to the right, so that I was no longer in immediate view of him. I blinked a couple times, then sighed and shook my head, turning back to Wufei.
Wufei, meanwhile, watched us both, as if he was analyzing our interactions.
It was then that discussions about the actual battle plan took place. Heero rummaged a bit more in the cupboard, and at long last pulled out a dirtied piece of paper and a pen, sketching a rough copy of Billington?s ?base? onto the paper. While leaning against the table with one hand for support, his other hand continued to draw, and he began to explain.
?This is where all of his meetings take place. He used to have a place in the colonies, but then he switched to Earth to please Senator Richford and some of the senator?s friends, and make him think that the rumors about him hating Earth were not true. It?s in a large city as well, not secluded.? He explained, setting it down on the table. I leaned forward to get a better view. ?Zechs?? He glanced at me, and stopped, then tried again, ?Milliardo. Milliardo will have to create a diversion. Billington keeps many mobile suits inside the building, and if we are to even think of infiltrating it then we must take care of them first. Milliardo will do that.?
I leaned back again in my chair, rubbing my forehead and thinking hard. After a moment, I asked, ?Infiltrate? Infiltrate how? And why??
Heero seemed to very uncomfortable, for, I realized, he was used to hearing about and accepting ?missions? such as this, not explaining it in detail. He actually lost his concentration for a moment, glancing from me to the map and then back to me again, reminding me somewhat of my nervousness during Billington?s confrontation. The fact that I made Heero feel as uncomfortable as Billington had made me should have felt like some sort of payback, but instead it only made me wonder: Heero did not waver in his thoughts, he simply thought. And acted.
?Billington,? He began, crossing his arms and moving a couple of steps back, as if to be able to eye me fully, ?Is very dangerous, and needs to be taken care of. I will assassinate him.?
My eyes widened, but I simply nodded, knowing that I should have expected that. ??I see.? I said, at length, once again not really sure how much I really did see, and wondering if I should quit lying about it.
Wufei stood before I could comment any further, jabbing his finger at the crudely drawn building. ?You will need two people to do the distractions, Heero.? He said. ?But you know that, of course. I shall be joining Milliardo?? Wufei then took the paper in his hands, and held it up to the light as he studied it.
I raised an eyebrow. ?Why two??
Heero nodded, looking at Wufei with what seemed to be a very approving air. ?Yes. You shall.? Turning to me, he added, ?Two people are needed, because he would deploy suits from two places in the building. Your brother could only handle one side at once, so he needs to have someone to help him. But??
Wufei peered over the paper questioningly. ?There is a but??
?I need someone else to come with me for the assassination, in case something should go wrong. I do not want to underestimate anything. Quatre was going to do it, but now that Billington is keeping such an eye on him?circumstances have changed.?
?Duo?s colony is close to this one.? Wufei suggested.
I shook my head, and raised my soda can to my lips, sucking on the rim absently. ?Hilde is pregnant.?
They both glanced at me with such surprise that I wondered if they didn?t believe my word. I shrugged and nodded, and if they needed anymore proof they could go on and call the two themselves. ?She is,? I said again, almost defensively, and continued to suck, brow furrowed as a particularly alarming proposition began to form in my mind.
Wufei began again. ?Trowa??
?Is too far away.? I said, setting down the can and glancing at my hands. ?It would him three days to come here.? Slowly, I looked up, and upon finding the stern, studying attention that both the men granted me, began to feel somewhat uncomfortable, but went on, too caught up now to even consider stopping, ?And if we are to do this, then we are to do it immediately. Like tomorrow. That is,? I turned to Heero, ?That is when you had decided to do it, correct? Once you?d briefed my brother??
Heero was coming to the realization of my true intentions, and he didn?t like it one bit. ?What are you suggesting, Relena?? He asked, darkly attentive eyes blazing.
I shrugged. ?I am the only one who knows about this, and who is capable of doing it within the requested time frame.?
I sucked in my breath, knowing his answer and not caring, because I would change it to my own. I was tired, sick and tired, of always being the one left out, the one who had to handle the mess-ups in debate the next day. I was tired of being on the sidelines. This was my world, my ass that was going to get kicked if everything went wrong.
I deserved it.
?You have no training. No.?
?That?s too bad?? I said slowly. ?Since, without my consent, I could turn you in.?
Wufei widened his eyes, attempting to fix me with his gaze. But I knew his game, knew how he could bewitch me into feeling guilty. Decidedly looking away from him, I focused on Heero, trying to summon all of my charisma together for this job. Heero was as cold as ice, uncaring, so he wouldn?t, he couldn?t, make me feel guilty or angry. He would leave me the way I was, and I would get his consent.
After what seemed like much deliberation, Heero returned, ?You wouldn?t.?
I shrugged. ?I could. Because the thing is, I know every little last secret of yours. I know your names. I know everything about you, and you know, you pilots are not the most popular people out there.?
Some guilt here. But, it was to be remember, I would personally never do such a thing. But they had to start taking me seriously.
?This is crazy talk, Relena!? Wufei interrupted, setting down the sketch with a rough smack that surprised me into looking into his eyes. ?You would never do such a thing.?
Standing up, I faced Wufei, hoping in what was an imposing pose. My hands clenched, my anger was complete ? was I expected to always sit back, let them do the work? Well, that had gotten me where I was now, and that was the tabloid?s favorite subject, the horrid seductress, that, my god, all you poor wives, keep me away from your husbands, ?cause god knows that if not, you?ll find them in the Sanc garden, with no memory of the night before, other than they?d done ungodly things that left them begging for more. Yeah, I had entrusted my faith, and it had gotten me to a real nice place.
But not again. I never faltered, never waned, merely glared back at Wufei.
?I could.?
?You want to be my back up? What if someone recognizes you?? Heero asked, arms crossed still, ever watchful.
They still didn?t understand.
?I am giving you an offer you cannot refuse. One that you shouldn?t, at any rate, lest you want private knowledge to become public.?
Heero and Wufei both exchanged glances. At length, Heero looked back to me, his gaze so completely wondering that I was glad he had gotten out of the rut of killing me a while ago. Sighing, he nodded slowly, in such a bewildered fashion that I wouldn?t be surprised if he was still trying to accept what had just happened.
Wufei scowled, and turned back to me. ?I cannot believe this! It is??
I couldn?t stop myself. I should have, I know, but so wounded by my own injustices was I that it just came out, before I could stop myself. ?Dishonor? Is that what you were going to say?? I asked, watching him knowingly.
There was a fleeting glimpse of pure anger that flitted across Wufei?s face before he turned away and walked quickly to the door. ?I am going to my room, to get ready for the battle.? He said. ?I trust Quatre is supplying us with some of his own models??
Heero nodded. ?It is waiting in the storage area. Ask one of the servants.?
?Hn. Very well.? He said, and was gone.
I sighed, mentally kicking myself for just general stupidity, and, leaning against the table, momentarily rested my head in my hands. ?Where?s another soda, Heero?? I asked, letting out another deep sigh as I raised my eyes up and over to him. ?I need a hit.?
He did not point me in the right direction, instead opening the refrigerator and handing me one. I took it slowly, opening it and draining half in one gulp.
I had not expected him to say anything, nor implored him by any device of gaze or motion. But Heero chose to speak anyway, surprising me. Heero. The memory of how much I had cared, and how much he simply hadn?t, burned unforgiving through me.
?I am sorry, Relena.?
I looked up slowly, half-wondering if it truly had been Heero that had spoken. Had it been some figment of my imagination, some hallucination that the stress had placed on me? But now, I looked up quick enough to see his mouth as he formed the last few letters of my name, and the way his eyes regarded me with sincerity.
Yes. His eyes. Harsh, unforgiving, yet the only sincerity he had.
?Sorry for what??
?I should have told you about Billington?s plan. I was wrong not to.?
Had Heero, Heero Yuy, just told me he was wrong?
?Well,? I said, looking to the can and watching it rather than him, turning it around in my hand, ?Hopefully, we can fix everything now. We shall see how it all turns out in the end, won?t we?? I finished my question with a last swig of the soda, and then looked up at him expectantly.
He nodded. ?Yes.?
***Well, okay, I meant to write more, but it already turned out much longer than I had intended. It?s registering twenty pages in my word program, and I thought it would be much less by this point. Guess I?ll just have to write more next time?00 Anyway, if you read all that, thanks, and please review! ***
Part Four of Two Steps
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Desert Bloom
- Coordinator||Plotting nightly on how to 'get' Kyo
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 6:00 pm
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Angeldreams
- Coordinator||Plotting nightly on how to 'get' Kyo
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 6:00 pm
- Location: Texas
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goddesswing
- Coordinator||Plotting nightly on how to 'get' Kyo
- Posts: 66
- Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2002 6:00 pm
- Location: Falls Church, VA
Hm, something I definately WASN'T expecting. Its GREAT! I really like how you presented Relena. Alot of other fics make her seem very unreal. But everyone experiences anger right? I love it. ^^;; I like how you made Relena seem strong. I know Heero sees her as strong and she's supposed to be, but alot of people make her seem weak under Heero. I really liked it!!!! Keep those chapters coming!!
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