Her mother's daughter chapter 3-4

[Ame-san]

Chapter 3



Lady Une's office was quite spacious that it even got a separate bathroom to itself. There wasn't anything special on the style of its decoration, it was just a typical office setting with a huge window, a desk plus a chair, computers, telescreens, and some couches for resting purposes.

A middle aged lady with long brown waist length hair stood firmly behind a rosewood desk. Liz figured that she would have to be Lady Une. The woman looked quite beautiful, yet she represented order that the most fierce warriors would follow her command without complaints. She was everything but weak.

" Liz, meet Lady Une." Lena guided her daughter to Lady Une and introduced them to each other.

" Hello, I'm Liz, nice to meet you, Lady Une." She offered the lady a hand shake.

" It's a pleasure to meet you too. Elizabeth." Lady Une greeted her back while studying her from head to toe. She then turned to Lena and said," The resemblance is uncanny."

What resemblance? Was she referring to mom? Or was she... Liz thought but a voice pulled her back to reality.

" Hey, what about me, aren't you going to introduce me to the kid, Relena, I mean Lena?" It was the braided man again.

'Relena', mom never used that name before. Who is he anyway?

"Duo, you'll get your chance when everyone else gets here." Lena said and glared at him. Duo Maxwell, he hadn't changed at all except the age difference.

Duo, so he is the Duo mom told me about last night. Liz thought.

" Liz, could you go into the bathroom please, and you can take off your sweatshirt now." Lena said pointing to the direction of the bathroom near the door on the left. " You have to retreat into hiding for a while. It won't be long. Please? Just trust me on this one. "

" Whatever you say mom, I just hope this will be over soon." With that she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Mom, what are you planning to do, and what's the idea with my outfit ? Liz thought while taking off her gray sweat shirt leaving her only with the dark green tank top and her black jean shorts.

Once Liz was in the bathroom, Lady Une press a button on the keypad of her vidphone, and a woman with dark blonde hair in two braids on each side of her head appeared on the screen.

"Sally, please bring Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, Milliardo, Noin and Hilde here. We are having an emergency staff meeting. Be here ASAP." Lady Une ordered.

" Yes Ma'am." And the call ended immediately.

" So, Relena, I mean Lena," Duo quickly corrected the name, " What's the idea here, why did you send her to the bathroom?" Confusion was written all over his handsome face.

" Duo, just wait until everyone's here, you'll see. I have a plan to follow." Lena told him.

Liz sat on the floor of the spacious bathroom, wondering what her mother had planned for her. But despite her extremely high IQ, this was one question she didn't have an answer to. The only explanation that she was able to come up with did not left her feel satisfied with the situation at hand. Remembering her conversation with her mother last night concerning the past, she knew that she would be the surprise planned by her mother to greet the Old Friends and Family. Liz did want to meet them, she was anxious to find out more about her mother's past. She stood up to face the mirror opposite of her and stared at her own reflection. She rarely looked at herself in the mirror to check up on her appearance, but this time was different, she was doing this for her mother. She wanted the people to get a good impression of her because she simply wanted to prove to them that she was her mother's daughter. She threaded her hand through her hair, trying to tame it but failed miserably. Her dark chocolate bangs fell back in front of her Prussian eyes acting just as stubborn as the rest of her. She tried to look more like her mother, neat, beautiful, and graceful. But she was not her mother, she was someone else, both inside and out. She could be anything but a lady and she was rather thankful at her own defection. She was the warrior or the hero, not the damsel.

The wooden door to the office was being knocked and steps of different rhythms echoed in the room. Greetings and complaints both came at the same time toward Lady Une.

" I thought we just had a staff meeting this morning, what's the problem here?"

" Wufei, watch your manners!"

" Hello, Lady Une."

" Is there an emergency, Miss Une?"

Lena Dorlain still had her back turned to the new occupants in the office. She was trembling from her soft chuckles which went unnoticed by the rest of the crew.

"People, people, quiet down." Lady Une ordered while pointing her finger at Lena. " Everybody, meet our new law adviser also defense attorney."

Lena stood up and turned around gracefully. " Hello, it's a pleasure to see you all again."

"Again? what do you mean- " Sally gasped. " My god!!!!! You're.. You are... Relena!!!!!!!!"

"Ah!!!!!!! Relena, you are back!!!!!! what happened to your hair, it's so... it's so..." The man with long blonde hair was speechless.

"Short." Duo finished for Zechs. " I was going to commend on that too."

" Hello to you too, Milliardo." She smiled sweetly. " And I'm just Lena now, not Relena."

" Relen-, I mean Lena, how are you..." Suddenly these people hovered over Lena like crazy bees asking nothing in particular. They were still trying to calm themselves down from the shock.

Man, what's going on outside? Liz thought in the bathroom waiting for her cue to come out. I guess the Old Friends and Family have finally arrived. Well, better get ready. She took a deep breath before went closer to the door. She was able to hear her mother's voice more clearly now since the people decided to quiet down.

" I have a surprise for you guys, and try not to have a heart attack. Ok?" Lena said reluctantly and walked to the bathroom door.

" What is it Lena, are you hiding something from us?" Milliardo questioned his sister.

" Do we know this surprise? " Asked Quatre. He seemed to be able to sense that it was a person waiting behind those doors.

" You might." There was a rather uncomfortable smile on her face when she answered him before knocking on the door three times, and whispered something to the occupant inside.

The room was extremely quiet that a drop of a needle wouldn't be hard to hear. The bathroom door slowly opened and a person emerged out of the room stepping into view.

" AHh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " That was from everyone in the room except Lena, Liz, and Lady Une. Luckily, no one fainted on the spot although most of them stopped breathing for a while.

" Heero, is that you?" Quatre asked in disbelief. " No, you are not Heero, who are you?"

" What do you mean he's not Yuy, I'm sure that's Yuy. Didn't you see the green top and the black shorts? Lena, what are you doing here with Yuy ? I can't believe you are with him again, how could you?!" Zechs yelled unable to suppress his rage.

" Zechs, that's not Heero." Duo said with amusement in his eyes." If that's Heero, he'll have to be a girl, and 16 years old. She's way prettier than Heero."

" What? Heero, a girl? huh?" Apparently he didn't get the picture.

" Milliardo, stop it right now." Lena glared at her brother's outbreak. " Everyone, meet my 16-year old daughter, Elizabeth Anne Dorlain." She announced with pride in her voice.

"What!!????" Everyone was shocked and confused again.

" Your daughter? You have a daughter, how could you? I demand to know who the father is?!" Zechs was clearly blinded by his rage.

" ehm.. Zechs? I think she's pretty self-explanatory, I mean just look at her." Hilde pointed the fact out to Zechs.

" Yuy, she's Yuy's daughter, isn't she. When? How? You are so irresponsible and..." He kept on ranting with no signs of ever stopping, at least not in the near future.

Who does he think he is, talking to my mother like that. Even if he is her brother. Liz was getting quite angry at her uncle's rude behavior.

" Excuse me," She said waving her hand at him trying to get his attention, but nothing happened. " Excuse me. " Again her efforts were proved in vain. " EXCUSE ME!!!!!!" She yelled, neglecting her manners. This time she did get her attention, not just from her uncle but everyone else too. She didn't seem to mind though.

" Sorry about that, uncle Milliardo I presume. But who do you think you are yelling at my mother like that. You have no right to and I could sue you for attempt harassment if you don't stop at this moment." Her face never betrayed her emotions. Outside, she looked calm with composure, but inside, she was enraged that she could have killed someone.

" Oh, little Liz is so cute when she talks like that." Duo grinned widely at Liz. " Come and give your uncle Duo a hug." He said while walking towards her.

" Duo, don't..." Lena tried to warn him.

Duo stepped near her and leaned in for the hug, but he was stopped by her cold glare that made him shiver with fear.

" Man, you look just like Heero. And stop that glare thing, it's not healthy for a person to glare like that. " He said while backing off a few steps from her.

"Hn."

" And stop that too. Man, you are definitely Heero's daughter. "

" Heero's daughter, I still can't believe it, Lena..."

" All of you right now, stop comparing me to Heero Yuy, I'm nothing like him." Lena refused to acknowledge the fact that she looked more like her unknown father than her dear mother.

" But he is your daddy." Duo said.

" I have no father, and I don't want one. I might resemble him on the outside, but I am not him! I am my mother's daughter. " She stated firmly. And sadly, I'm not mother either. She kept that thought only to herself.



Chapter 4



Silence. Dead silence. This time wasn't anticipation but awkwardness. Everything seemed frozen in space, and time had just somehow stopped. She felt the air around her became thin, and her throat was suddenly arid like she just went to the desert.

She had done it. She had put some kind of impression upon her mother's friends like she wanted to, but did she like the result? No, she didn't. In fact, she hated it; she hated the way they were staring at her with their mouths open in shock, and she hated the whole situation. However, she felt no regret. She was true to herself and that was all it mattered.

The silence continued, and those eyes never seemed to remove their gaze upon her. They were eyes of understanding, admiration, shock, confusion, even disappointment. She could see right through them, but she wished that they would just express their feelings in words, not in some kind of staring contest. Nonetheless, she wasn't about to surrender to the game of silence. She screamed, begged, even cursed, but all in silence. That long and dreadful silence.

" Ok, that's it. I'll admit it. I'm the loser. So, can we stop the staring contest?" It was Duo who ended the game. " Man, I just knew I would lose. oh, well."

" Yeah, that's right. Hey, everybody, break it off ok? Let's just change the subject ok?" Quatre joined Duo.

" Come on guys, remember Heero is not here right now, and 'the silence is worth a thousand words thing' is his department, not ours." Duo spoke.

Sighs of agreement came respectively from the rest of the occupants of the room. Most of them shifted their bodies around to shrug off the remaining awkwardness. Liz choose that time to sit down by her mother giving her a reassuring gaze and decided she should somehow avert the present situation herself, since it was her responsibility to finish what she had initiated.

" You know, none of you people never did introduce yourselves to me when you came in." She said in a cocky tone. " Talk about your manners, and I really hope that this is not how you guys treat a guest. I am after all a total stranger to you despite the relationships you people have with my parents."

" Oh, I'm really sorry Liz. Here, my name is Quatre Rebaba Winner, it's a pleasure. " Quatre took the honor of introducing everyone. He pointed to the others and continued. " From the far left, there's Wufei Chang, Sally Po, Hilde Schbeiker, Lucrezia Noin, Milliardo Peacecraft, Trowa Barton, and Duo Maxwell. And I see you have already met Lady Une.

A number of greetings came from all of them respectively and Liz nodded at them in respect. She wasn't quite relaxed though because the hard part was coming - starting up a new conversation. But she was saved by her aunt Noin, she assumed.

" So, Liz, tell us about yourself." Noin wanted to get to know her niece.

" Well..." She was interrupted by the ever so talkative Duo Maxwell.

" Give her a break you guys, I say she should tell us that later. What she needs now is someone here to take her to do some sightseeing around the city." Duo suggested with a grin on his face.

" Hey, wait a minute there, I want to get to know her first and -" Noin was cut off by the sound of a knock and the opening of the office door. It was a preventer . He greeted and apologized to everyone before handing Lady Une a letter.

" Lady Une, this just came from the ESUN's supreme court. It's rather urgent, and they said it needs immediate attention from you." He informed as Lady Une proceeded to open the envelope and read it silently. her facial expression change from that of none to pure anger and a bit of confusion also.

" What is it, Lady? " Noin asked with concern in her voice.

" This is a letter of accusation toward part-time preventer officer Quatre. It says that a family from one of the colonies sued him for murder. Apparently they are the blood-relatives of some people on the colony that Quatre destroyed during the war. And now their case is reviewed by the ESUN, and they have prepared a trial for Quatre; the charges on him will be categorized as war crimes. The trial will begin next Thursday." Lady Une concluded looking grim. The preventer who delivered the letter left without a word.

" How, how? I don't get it. Though I knew something like this would happen, but after almost 19 years. Why? Why didn't them do it sooner, why did them wait until now? Why? " Sadness had consumed Quatre as he spoke in a melancholy tone.

" Quatre, now is not the time to be sad, now is the time to stand up for yourself. You should remember that in war everything is possible, and you shouldn't have to pay for what you did under a time of confusion." Noin tried to console him.

" But I was mistaken, I killed a whole colony. So many lives were lost because I was confused. That's unacceptable." He never seemed to have forgiven himself over what he had done.

" No, Quatre." This time was Lena's voice. " It wasn't your fault. You had no control in a time of war. I'm sure that every soldier has made a mistake like that before. It was the result of a war. Like Noin said, you have to stand up for yourself. And we will help you. I will be your defense attorney if you want, and I promise that I'll do my best to right this wrong."

" Thank you, Lena. That would be wonderful." He replied though still trying to escape his dark shadow of the past.

" Very well then, Quatre, we can discuss this at my house later with everyone. But first, can you tell me was there any witness present when you destroyed that colony? "

" No, but Trowa and Heero confronted me right after it. I fought against them and they knew that I was emotionally unstable. So, I think they count as two witnesses." Quatre spoke.

" No, we only have one and that's Trowa. As for Heero, well, it's Heero we are talking about. You get the picture." Lena corrected him.

" She's right, you know." Duo joined in. " None of us has seen him for over ten years, and all of you know that it is impossible to find him. He only shows up when he wants to. However, aside from that, Trowa is not enough. Remember, he was hurt badly and he got amnesia after he recovered. Although he did get his memory back, they can still use that against us."

" Well, all of you can testify on the part concerning the zero system. And we'll have to work with what we've got." Lena said. " And as for you Elizabeth, you should take Duo's advise and go for a sightseeing tour, because we have some important issues to discuss. Sorry, honey."

" So who's taking her on the tour?" Duo asked innocently.

" Not me, I've got work to do."

" Don't look at me, Maxwell."

" I have the Preventers to run."

" I'm one of the witnesses."

" I have a meeting to attend for Lady Une."

" Hilde?" Duo gave Hilde a questioning look.

" No, sorry Liz. But I really need to finish my report. Maybe next time."

" Zechs?"

" Um, no, I can't."

" Why not? You have nothing planned today, and you are her uncle." Noin pointed out.

" Sorry, Liz, you know you are my favorite niece, and I would love to take you, but I have to... to... to finish cleaning my office." He gave the lamest excuse on Earth.

" Yeah right," Liz said in a derisive tone. " And I'm your only niece. That kind of flattery is getting old."

"So no one will take her? Man, poor little Liz." Duo said shaking his head in disapproval.

" There is one man though." Hilde said looking at Duo.

" Uh oh, no, not me. I've got ... I've got... I've got..." He didn't know what to say.

" No excuses. You are perfect for the job, Duo. After all it was your idea to take her out."

" But, but, but... Fine. I'll do it. Why me?" Duo agreed reluctantly.

" Hey, you should be honored to be able to take me out, Duo. You are lucky that I have decided to go with you. Don't push your luck." Liz grinned widely.

" Fine, ok, let's go before I get old." Duo muttered unwillingly while opening the door and stepped into the hall.

" You are already old." Came a reply from Liz

" What did you say?"

" Oh, nothing, just go already."

With that being said Liz and Duo left the office and proceeded with the tour of the capital city of the Sank Kingdom.

" I hope they'll make it out alive." Lena sighed.

" Why do you say that?" Noin asked.

" You don't know Liz. Think about the combination of me and Heero, and you'll know." She explained.

Everyone in the room shuddered at the thought of that. A combination of the perfect soldier and the Queen of the world had just left with the God of Death.

[kawaiiemogirl]

Awesome!!! Go Liz, for standing up for Relena!