Unexpected Arrangements ~ Chapter V, Part 2

[Morrighan]

Psh. Would you say that to Rose? :razz:

[Caliborn]

Yes, and then get zapped for it. ^_^; But I'm writing! Right now! Well, not right now because I paused to tell you I'm writing, but I am writing! So there!

[Morrighan]

Well, I'm writing too.

[Kaili Charmer]

~throws a tomato~ Rose made me do it!

[melrose_stormhaven]

*rubs her eyes*

Eh? Its still alive?

^_^

Kidding.

Nice to see people are still interested...

[Caliborn]

Yes, it is still alive, go figure. ^_^;; Although I'm not gonna get the next part out as soon as expected because my nine-page essay for media is taking priority...

*Ducks rotten fruit* Gomen!

[Morrighan]

Where's the next part?!?!?!

*throws tomatoes*

[Caliborn]

<i> Chapter Five
Part II</i>

<i>Heero</i>

It had been almost a week since I had come so close to losing her, and the memory still made me lay awake and shiver at night.

Even though the memories had been given proper time to fade, they were still as vivid as ever. The man racing death behind her, the terrified look on her face, the tired snorts of the horses and the thundering hooves... every detail was imprinted far too clearly in my mind, as was the fact that had I been any later in raising my bow, she would not be laying near me tonight, wrapped up warm and safe in her blankets.

I don't know when I had become so entranced with her. Not too long ago she had been nothing more than a mere bother; pretty, full of spirit, but nothing that would hold my attention for very long. Somehow, though, she had wormed her way past my defenses and planted... something... within the steel around my heart, something that should've never been able to grow.

That realization had been jerked to the forefront of my mind when I had saved her life... and it had refused to leave ever since.

Sighing, I turned over in my blankets, unaccustomed to the hard, rocky ground. The others were stretched out around me; we were camped out here for the night, waiting the supposed army from Asbath. We had agreed not to put up tents, as the rest was only a few meager hours. Treize's scouts still burned at our heels, and thus our progress was rush and forced, none of us having gotten enough sleep in days. Still, by late tomorrow we would reach some safety, as we crossed over into the stronghold of the Horselord's clan. There, we could bide our time until the forces of Asbath's armies arrived.

It had shocked me to here that King Winner had agreed to help-- the man was a softy, always claiming pacifism should be upheld over war, yadda yadda yadda. Perhaps, though, he had felt the pressure of Trieze's newly conquered lands bordering his own and had realized the problem would not go away with simple attempts at negociation. Whatever his reasons, I was happy for his assitance, as the full power of Kquest's armies would take over a month to arrive. Asbath soldiers were not known for their prowess in battle, not like Kquest's, anyway, but their numbers would be of dire need.

At the moment, it was assumed that Treize had control of roughly 300,000 men, spread out to hold his lands. He could call in over 120,000 back to his winter fortress the moment he heard of trouble, with thousands more arriving every other day. Sanq had only 100,000 men availible if one scrapped the bottom of the figurative buckets, and nearly every one was required to hold the home front. Their armies had fallen apart in the civil wars, and the remainders had degraded even further with news of Prince Millardo's death. Asbath had promised us 70,000 men. Kquest's reserves totalled almost 200,000 thousand, and once they arrived I had no doubt we would win this war. There was no soldier alive better trained than one from Kquest, and even outnumbered two-to-one, Kquest's armies would conquere. Of course, we still awaited the correspondence from Lord Barton...

I had sent a messenger back to Sanq to contact the advisors and another back to Kquest to summon the armies. If luck was with me, the armies would be on the march before the advisors could collect themselves to protest. As much as my father considered me to be a burden, it just wouldn't do to have his only heir killed on the outskirts of a foreign battle-- and I had made it quite clear in my letters home that I intended to be on the front line, armies of Kquest at my side or not.

I would do it just to see the look on my father's face.

...The wish to fight had nothing to do with a certain blonde-haired vixen who had currently stolen my senses. Ever since that moment, I had been caught up with her; staring at her when I knew she wasn't watching, noticing tiny things that before had seemed so trivial, like the fact that she always yawned in exactly the same way. She would blink, then scrunch her nose daintily and cover her mouth with one hand, then blink twice and smile sheepishly if anyone had been watching. It was... dare I admit it... endearing.

But of course, I would never admit it. As... important her life had suddenly become to me, she still annoyed me to no ends.

Still awake, my eyes scanned the ground, narrowing at the sight of slicked black hair caught in a too-tight ponytail. I did not trust this ... <i>captain</i> ... Chang.

Whatever idiot had decided to give a Horselord such a title and command of royal soldiers could go and fall on his sword. Horselords were untrustworthy at best; nomads who felt no particular loyalty towards anyone outside of their clans. They were solitary people, rarely getting involved in the affairs of neighboring countries. Whatever reason this Chang had to fight in this war, I doubted it would be anything to hold his loyalty for long.

I had tried to explain this to Relena. Really, I had. But she seemed stubbornly determined to ignore my warnings and put her faith in the man-- She <i>still</i> blamed me for trying to shoot him! What could she have possibly expected? The features of a Horselord are well-known, and he had been in the process of chasing after her as well... how was I to know he was a supposed ally, rather than an enemy?

She hadn't spoken to me for a full day after the encounter. Duo found the entire situation hillarious, and Hilde, after speaking with Relena about me, had sniffed and taken up her Lady's silence. I just couldn't win.

I closed my eyes. I knew that I would get no sleep tonight, no matter how my body dearly needed it. There were too many thoughts, too many worries, playing in my mind for me to allow myself any rest.

One of them being her.

I sighed. She should've been safely behind the stone walls of her castle by now... the safest place I knew to put her. But one hint of that suggestion and her back had gone stick-straight, her chin had lifted, and her eyebrows raised in stubborn defiance. Send her home? Send her somewhere far away and safe when her brother was still in danger? She would have none of it!

Wufei had mentioned it first, of course, when some of the excitement had died down. It would be best to send her home and away from the battles. She needed to be safe.

I, having just gotten her back, had not been in the mood to have her sent anywhere out of his sight. Grudgingly, though, I had been forced to agree with the other man. As much as I wanted to keep her by my side, if only so that I could keep her from so constantly throwing herself into danger, sending her home was the wisest choice. But she had fought so adamently against the idea!

Then again, I can't forget the joy I found in seeing <i>captain</i> Chang's lips tighten to such thin slits as he attempted to face her down. He didn't seem like a man who was used to being challenged so strongly, and the resulting frustration he had shown at not getting his way was priceless.

He vaguely reminded me of the boy whom I had punched so many years ago to earn my nickname.

My eyes opened again in the starlight, somehow comforted by the princess's presence only a few feet from me. I couldn't say, given the chance to look at the situation logically, that I was very happy about her decision -- or stubborn insistence-- to stay. I could, however, take some selfish comfort in her closeness. I had come so close to losing her...

Another sigh escaped from my lips. I closed my eyes a final time, swearing softly, "I'll protect you, Relena." It was the least I could do.



<i>Relena</i>

I laid awake in my blankets. I had been drifting in and out of sleep the entire night, because the ground was rocky and uneven, and everytime I turned a new sharpness would jab into my side. I would rather die than voice a word of complaint, however. Lord Chang had mentioned more than once-- and not at all subtley!-- that this was no place for a woman. My brother, however, depended on this endeavor succeeding, and I knew the castle. If I could be on any help, I would. I refused to go home and just wait.

They had briefly explained their plan and Asbath's offer of assitance, which I would thank King Winner personally for the moment I got the chance. At least he hadn't demanded that his son be married to me-- I had met the boy once, years ago; he had been a spoiled, selfish brat that I wouldn't mind never encountering again-- and the King's geniune offer touched my heart. Perhaps the entire world hadn't gone bad, just yet. I just hoped he didn't send his son with the offered troops, or who knew how that would pan out? Still, I could hardly complain, and since I knew so little about warfare myself, I didn't argue with the boy's plan.

Hilde, too, had decided to stay, strangely enough. I had told her it wasn't necessary and that I wished she wouldn't put herself in such danger, but she was just as adament as I had been. I knew she felt guilty over what had happened, and I tried to make it clear I didn't blame her; after all, what could she have done to stop it? But she refused to leave me again... or Duo. I don't know how such a romance could've sprang up between them so quickly, but she had filled me in on all that I had missed, and I was happy she seemed to have found someone. It made me wish I could find someone so charming.

Someone not at all like a certain Wild Boy Prince.

The word "charming" simply wasn't anywhere in the Prince's vocabulary. Aggravating, stubborn, wild, dangerous-- he knew those terms very well. But <i>charming?</i> Phaw.

I shivered slightly, and it had nothing to do with the cold. I had always heard stories of the Kquestians' fierocity, but I had never dreamed to see one unleash such a side in battle. Prince Yuy... unnerved me... as he fought. The man was a smooth machine, delivering death unmercifilly. The look in his eyes when we had come upon each other, the cool strength of his arm as he had discarded the bow, yanked my horse behind his and had engaged the enemy with steel alone... it had seemed an impossible battle, but we had won, if one could call a successful escape a victory.

If all of Kquest's soldiers fought as he did, Trieze would never stand a chance.

I closed my eyes, trying to block out the vision of bloodshed. Perhaps it <i>had</i> been necessary, but I still couldn't make myself like it.


<i>A.N.: There, I'm not so horrible! This had been edited, but forgive me for any errors I missed, because I've only been writing this rather late at night. *rubs eyes* Plus, for some reason, it connected everything into one long paragraph when I copied and pasted to BI, so some paragraphs may have accidentally runonto each other... I'll try to find them and fix them. But, there, it's done! And extra long for an extra apology. I'm -so- sorry it took so long!

*Sing-Song* Rooooose? *Puppy eyes* Can you change my title now? Pleasepleaseplease?</i>

[Morrighan]

Ooh.... But that's why we like Heero! He can be such a stubborn ass sometimes.

[Caliborn]

You read... incredibly fast. @.@