Sea of Emotion 12/?

[Gundam Girl]

Hey, chapter 12 is here! This is my longest fic so far, and though it?s not my most popular, I hope you?re all enjoying it. Thanks to Joe for nudging me into posting this here, 'cause, being a moron, I forgot again.

Disclaimer: I don?t own GW?or a submarine. Though it would be cool if I owned both.

Warning: Some 6x9 orange (not quite lime) here. Not even enough to be a good warning really, but I thought I?d add it in for heck?s sake. There is some 1xR lime in this chapter, so know what you?re getting into!

Sea of Emotion ? Chapter 12

By Gundam Girl

Trieze?s shoulders were squared and his fists were taut. He gave no resistance as the Bregenz police marched him from the Rosetta onto the European shore. Members of his crew and his wife were being brought out behind him. They would all be interrogated soon, he the hardest, on who they had robbed and what subs they had attacked. Treize sincerely doubted that many of them could recall details such as those.

He stretched his neck to look over his shoulder at the rusty, partially wooden ship he had called home for nearly nine years. He remembered the risky endeavor of being nineteen and moving up from regular shop-stealing in Austria to becoming captain of a bunch of sea thieves.

His eyes went from the chipped-painted letter of ROSETTA to the hard brown state of his colonel. Anne had been giving him that look of despise since two years after their marriage. He concluded that his wife and his ship were the same ? both had once been trustworthy and both were now ready to give up their lives with him.

If the truth was told, Treize could say he was sadder about the feelings of his submarine than of his spouse. Anne was a woman. Women multiplied every day. There was, however, only one Rosetta.

Treize smiled, closing his eyes as he turned his head forward and let his captors lead him on into a car that would take him to jail. Once his arms had been released, he reached with some difficulty into his breast pocket and pulled from it a single, scarlet rose bereft of its stem.

He held it up to the image of his ship, docked for the last time. Just before the policeman shut the car door, he loosed the delicate bud and watched it flutter off in the breeze toward the Rosetta.

So long, my friend.

---

Just as Zechs had predicted, as Treize was being locked in a damp cell, the captain was enjoying a steak hot from the kitchen and a glass of strong red wine as he watched the security cameras. The bar was holding a hell of a party; Duo?s doing, most likely. Treize had been worth millions, and everyone was expecting their hefty paycheck.

For Zechs, however, he couldn?t manage to get into a celebratory mood. His wine was more sour than enjoyable, and his steak tasted bland. His eyes were beginning to blur from being on the double shift, since Relena was still being kept in the infirmary with Quatre, Heero on the bed beside her. So he was on his own.

Thinking of the Florida native, Merquise steepled his fingers and pressed his lips to them as his elbows were balanced on the table that held the cameras. He had saved her. He?d saved not only his sister, but Luchrezia Noin as well. And Zechs was fairly certain that he hadn?t even done it to get on anyone?s good side.

He thought of how pale and frantic Yuy had been when Relena had turned up missing; how he had simply launched off the ship in a startling mix of courage and idiocy to grab Relena and push Noin back to him; and how he and dropped both of them into the water and forced himself and Zechs? sister under the Golden Wave so they wouldn?t be hit with bullets from enemy fire.

Yuy was, Zechs thought, brilliant. And impossibly talented. For a man to survive that stunt while supporting someone else was above normal soldier standards. And the man?s file said he?d never been in the military.

Maybe he was just odd. Maybe his parents had given him some impeccable hybrid of genes and he was close to superhuman. It had happened before. It could happen again.

Zechs eyes narrowed as he recalled Heero?s state when they?d brought him back onto the ship after Relena. He?d said her name with an uncanny desperation. He?d heard that pain in voices before. And only special men risked their lives like that.

Men in love.

It disconcerted him, but whether Yuy was aware of it yet or not, the Japanese youth was very much in love with his sister. Zechs thought of the way Relena had been looking at Heero from the deck of the Rosetta?and, if his thoughts were correct, Relena might very well be in love with Heero as well.

Before the captain had time to analyze the pair?s feelings any further, the door to the security room opened, and Zechs? head snapped up to see Luchrezia Noin enter. His blood moved faster through his veins, and he stood up. ?Officer Noin.?

?Captain, I?m sorry for bothering you.? The dark haired woman fidgeted slightly as she shut the door behind her and slowly moved toward him. ?But I have to confront you about something that?s been bothering me all day. What?s going to happen to me??

The question was asked so quickly that Zechs almost had to have her repeat it. But even if he hadn?t caught the words the first time, the look in her apprehension-filled eyes spoke loud and clear.

He raised a closed hand to his mouth and coughed to clear his throat before replying. ?Are you wondering if I?m going to hand you over to the police, Noin??

Her face turned a shade paler. ?I??

?It?s all right. I?m not the warmest guy on the earth. I understand if you?re concerned.?

If she hadn?t been pale first, Zechs might have noticed the slight blush on the Italian woman?s pretty face. Noin was recalling how tightly he?d held her when Heero had pushed her back to him on the line between the Rosetta and the Golden Wave. He?d been very warm then.

?But don?t worry.? Walking toward her, Zechs set one of his firm hands on her slender shoulder. ?When I asked you to join my ship, I meant for as long as you wish to stay or until I have no other choice but to ask you to leave of your own will.? He smiled down at her, and Noin felt her knees slacken a tad. ?You?re too good of a person for a cold cell.?

She glanced away from him. ?Thank you, sir.?

Sir, the captain thought. She?d called him Zechs when she had been clutching to him right before Relena and Heero and dove underwater. The formality, now returned, made him ache. Surprised by that, he withdrew his hand and set it to his side.

Suddenly, Noin?s posture softened and she gasped in delight. Running to the plastic-glass wall, she pressed her hands flat against it. ?I didn?t know something like this was on the ship!?

Zechs? face contracted handsomely with a smirk, and he folded his arms as he leaned back against the security camera table. ?Everyone loves that.?

?Well, I should hope so. It?s incredible!? She let out a laugh as a school of fish swam by, their tails waving back and forth jovially. ?The Rosetta was nowhere near as welcoming as the Golden Wave is.? Her happy expression dimmed somewhat. ?It was?harsher.? Her hand gently pressed to her left shoulder ? the bruises there were healed, but not memories. She looked back and gave Zechs a small smile. ?So it seems Colonel Darlian was correct about that place after all.?

The sad gleam in her eyes made him feel like he wanted to kill Treize, if it would make a person he cared for happier. It wasn?t the first time he?d felt that way. Instead of marching to Bregenz Prison, he stepped forward and took the hand that wasn?t crossed over her body. ?Treize may not have been kind to you. But please believe that I will.?

Noin?s eyes flicked back and forth between his own, searching for sincerity. She was shocked to the core when she found it. ?Why are you saying this?? she whispered. ?Why are you telling me??

Zechs only squeezed her fingers tighter. ?I don?t know how Treize felt about you being on his ship, but? I want you here. I do, but only if you want to be here as well.?

Her chest fell sharply as she exhaled a breath. ?I?? She focused briefly on the feeling of the bounty hunter captain?s hand closed over her own, and heat speared up her arm and made her feel like he was shooting fire through her veins. ?I do,? she told him, her voice filled with clarity. ?I want to be here.?

The declaration filled him with an intensity unlike the protection he felt for Relena, and Zechs only stared at her. Her hand left her shoulder and fell to her side. Her dark eyes met his light ones. Since they were near the surface of the water, a moonbeam cut through the waves and fell across her face. ?Zechs??

He couldn?t help it. Grabbing her by both shoulders, Zechs neatly tucked her against him and fused his mouth to hers.

She responded almost instantly, her hands creeping up around his back and curling into the stiff cotton of his dark green uniform shirt, tangling in his pale hair. Their pulses both quickened, racing together as their tongues met, the friction scorching.

Mindless, Zechs pressed her back to the cool window. Her knees rose to slide over the front of his thigh, and he took his mouth from hers to close his lips over her neck instead. Desire flared between them, and Noin moaned.

The sound jerked him back to his senses, and he snapped away from her, leaving Noin in a quivering bundle of nerves, leaning against the window and gasping, her eyes not quite focused.

Zechs was having trouble breathing properly himself, and he scooped up his mussed hair in one slightly shaking fist, then let it fall back in a whoosh. As the air around him cleared of the sexual haze, guilt began to set in. ?Noin,? he murmured, his voice cracking a little, ?that was??

?Amazing,? she sighed. Her eyes drifted shut, only to burst open in the next instant to stare at him with horror.

A laugh bubbled up from Zechs? chest and he let it out with some embarrassment. ?I was going to say ?not proprietary,? but I can find it in me to agree with you.?

This time, Zechs did see her blush. A furious red color, she cast her gaze at the floor. ?I?m terribly sorry.?

?For what??

?For?for? Dammit, for being about to rip your shirt open!? Her mouth was gaping at both him and her own words. ?I can?t believe I just said that,? she muttered, her voice far quieter.

He could only laugh again, and as he took a step toward her, she tensed, and he hesitated. ?Relax, Noin.? But the awkwardness had already permeated the room. Trying to ease it, he added, ?If you want, we can hold off the shirt-ripping for later.?

Instead of an actual laugh, she just exhaled quickly. It was close enough, Zechs thought optimistically. ?Well.? Running her fingers through her own short hair, she nodded. ?Okay.? Pushing away from the wall, she bypassed him and crossed to the door. With her hand on the knob, she looked back at him and smiled. ?Thanks, Captain. For an amazing meeting.?

When the door closed, Zechs practically collapsed into his hard, wooden chair. Jesus Christ. Stop worrying about Yuy, he said in his head, and start worrying for yourself, Merquise.

---

Unlike his captain, Heero wasn?t worrying about anything?except for the woman lying still unconscious on the bed next to his. There wasn?t a doctor in the infirmary right now, but Quatre had been present when Heero had first woken, and according to the blond man, Relena had woken up a short while before him, then had gone back to sleep.

?After a crazy thing like you two pulled,? Quatre had said, ?it?s a wonder that either of you are alive.?

Maybe so, Heero thought, but it hadn?t felt like a wonder. It had felt like death hanging over them. His eyes settled on the pale-faced woman, her chest rising and falling steadily. They?d finally gotten her out of that half-torn, soaked dress and put her in a plain cotton hospital gown. Someone had been kind enough to comb her hair as she slept. But it wasn?t her hair or her clothes that Heero was attentive to. He was paying the most attention to the mottled, purple bruise on the right side of the colonel?s face.

Trieze. He didn?t know the man, had never even heard of him before Relena?s kidnapping. But he could conjure up the image of the man?s hard, possessive eyes. He?d seen them from the deck of the Golden Wave, and he?d noted the tight grip Khushrenada had held on Relena, and how familiar his prim voice had been when speaking to Zechs.

There was definite history between the three of them. What was it? He hadn?t entirely gotten over the shock of the captain and the colonel being siblings yet. Any more surprises might put him down for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sitting up, Heero glanced around. There didn?t appear to be any other people in the infirmary besides them. Then all he did was watch her. She was hypnotizing him with her gentle breathing, and part of him wanted to reach out and twine his fingers through her hair.

But he didn?t do that, and for the next hour, he waited for Relena to move.

She did, just when it read nine o? clock. Her eyes opened with a flutter of lashes. Heero inhaled sharply when her gaze met his. ?You?re all right,? she commented, her voice cracking a little from sleep.

?Me?? Heero replied. ?You were the one I shoved under the ship.?

Relena studied him with one up-and-down look. He was shirtless, which was enough to make her blood heat, but there was open concern in his eyes. If she didn?t know better, she?d say he looked more worried now than she?d been standing on the Rosetta. ?Well, now I really can say I know this place from top to bottom.?

?Relena.? The tone of his voice banished her small smile. With a voice not used to admitting his true feelings, he said, ?I thought we would die.?

She pressed her lips together. With some difficulty she pushed herself up on one elbow and looked directly at him. ?But Heero, we didn?t. We?re alive.? She extended her right hand to him. ?Thanks to you.?

Heero merely blinked at her for a moment. Then, with a short grunt, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up. His fingers slid over her palm, past her wrist, up her arm, until his own arm was wound around her back, and he was sitting on her bed beside her, folding her small, slender form to his.

Relena?s hand fell to the mattress, and she sat there, very still as she peered over his shoulder. Warmth spread over her through her spinal cord, and she nearly sighed from the contact. She remembered what she?d thought about on the Rosetta and knew it was true.

She was, somehow, in love with Heero Yuy.

His voiced breathed into her ear, startling her from her thoughts. ?I was afraid.?

She was silent; if he was going to make confessions, she would hear them without interruption and, if she could, accept them.

?I was afraid we would get trapped under the ship, that we?d drown there. That I would kill you beneath your very home.? He pulled back just enough to look into her attentive eyes. ?That we?d die beneath the place I?ve come to feel is home.?

?Heero?? She shook her head slowly, bringing a hand up to smooth the palm over his lightly-stubbled face. ?But we didn?t die. We?re here right now.? When he opened his mouth to speak, she passed her fingers over it and silenced him. ?Together.?

Heero threaded his fingers through her hair and slowly, devastatingly slowly, pressed his lips to hers. Relena?s eyes fell shut, and her fingers gripped his hair. Their tongues danced, exploring, and Heero rubbed the space between her shoulders, making sparks fly.

She invited him, pulling him down with her as she laid back. He straddled her hips, and she moaned slightly. Heero brushed his lips over her face, across her temple, around her ear. His fingers danced over her stomach. Just as he went back to her mouth, she froze.

Relena lied there, still and stiff as wood. Heero finally noticed after a few seconds, and he pulled back to give her a quizzical look. ?Are you okay?? he asked, his tone unsure.

?I?I?m so sorry.? She sat up, wincing over a small bruise on her lower back, and gave him an apologetic look. ?I really am. I just realized.? Her fists, not touching him at all, closed tightly and she pressed them into the mattress. ?There?s so much about me you don?t know.?

He set hand over her balled-up one. ?I want to know,? he assured her.

?I?m sure you do,? she nodded. ?I believe you, but I?I can?t tell you. Not just yet. Not here, when we?re like this.? She motioned to their close bodies. ?I think I??

She couldn?t say it ? couldn?t tell him she loved him, and she knew why. She feared that he wouldn?t return the sentiment.

Or worse, that he would.

Heero removed himself from her, but he reached out and fingered her hair a bit again. He liked her hair a bit too much, he thought. ?I can wait,? he told her softly. ?I?ve got ghosts, too.?

My past isn?t a ghost, Heero. She watched him as he moved back to his assigned bed; not a moment too soon, as Quatre walked in with a pleasant smile. It?s a demon.-------------------------------------------------------------

Review please!

[teardropdangel]

You're not a moron, GG. Very nice.

[Morrighan]

^________________________^ Confess, you two!!! Or I'll hafta conk one or both of you on the heads!!!

Can't wait to see how this ends, nessie!

[Gundam Girl]

Hehe, thanks, teardrop. For both liking the fic and thinking I'm not a moron. And Morri, I'm rather excited to see how this ends, too. ^_^; There's still a few chapters left. There hasn't been enough necessary conflict yet!

[APerfectSoldier87]

Blah Blah, do I really have to do this since I already told you.

It was great I loved it, still waiting for another installment to Upper Class and an end to this one, yeah i'm greedy so sue me.

[blackrose]

tsk tsk, GG. And all this time I had high hopes you'd passed the moron stage.

*ducks*

:razz:

[Gundam Girl]

Hehe, Joe, I'm confused by your methods. You read the fic at FFN, but you review here...? You silly, greedy boy.

As for YOU, Rose. :x One day, I'm just going to go wild and send a pack of wild, angry beavers who only eat healthy, frozen food to your house! And they're going to eat ALL of your healthy, frozen food! And you'll have nothing! NOTHIIIIING!

[Aristale Wolf]

why must u torture me sssooooooooooo??????????? ur killin me with these cliffhangers.....gggggrrrrrrrrr......cant wait for the next partssss.....

[Andrea]

GG, you meanie! If you do that, Rose will starve to death and who'll finish all those stories still hanging on the loose?!

And my dear! I just read this in one seating! And as you already know, I'm not patient, so it kind of sucks to find out I've read myself into a cliffhanger!! You evil, evil woman! Those two better confess in the next chappie, or else...!!

Kudos, babe!

[Gundam Girl]

Point taken, Andrea love. OK, so maybe the beavers will only eat HALF her frozen healthy food.

And as for confessing...well, you'll see. More like a long trip to the department of back story.