Let Go Your Heart - Chapter Three (Rated T, 1xR AU)

[NenaKR]

Disclaimer: I don?t own Gundam Wing.



Let Go Your Heart

Chapter Three

By: Nena





________________________________________


?And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.?

? Jesus, John 16:22


________________________________________




It wasn?t the first time he had been in a situation like this.

The dusty earth billowed behind his horse?s hooves as he galloped toward the approaching station. His brown, unkempt hair blustered in the wind, unnoticed, uncontrolled. Prussian blue eyes zoomed in on a target ? the saloon, some few miles ahead, loud and bright in the night dusk rising from the ground. The red bandana he wore over his mouth did little to control the dirt from whipping into his eyes and down into his mouth, but he didn?t care. He didn?t care that the upper-half of his face was caked in grime. He didn?t care about anything.

It had been three months.

Three months, and all he could think about was her.

He no longer believed what they said ? that time healed everything. Nothing was healed. Nothing was easier. It was just as impossible to let go of as it had ever been. He would not confront the darkness in himself until he was sure that the man who had done this was six feet under the ground. It wasn?t an option ? he was going to kill him, one way or the other.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowing in anticipation of the awaiting town. Absolutely no one outside of Maverick, Texas had ever heard of a man named Treize Khushrenada. It didn?t help that Heero himself had never actually gotten to see Treize?s face ? he had only heard rumors of the European. Others had attempted a detailed drawing of the man, and a folded picture of him lye in his sack hanging off the side of his horse. Not that he needed to look at it again ? he had memorized the drawing, stared at it a hundred times, and came close to ripping it to pieces a few thousand. All he had to go on were more and more rumors of a man who looked the same, all under a different alias.

Treize was clever. That much he knew was true. If Treize was even the man?s real name. So far he had gone under the name Devin Stockling, as well as Travis DeWitt. He was currently looking for one Marsdon Baker, who was said to have passed through the little town of Uvalde, Texas some two weeks ago on business.

He had searched for the scoundrel for weeks. Every end turned up with nothing, every clue led to another useless clue. He had left his teaching position without hesitation ? it reminded him too much of her. His father had raised him roughly, anyway, and he knew how to survive and fight on his own. Before he had decided to marry Mae he had contemplated working as a Sheriff. But that idea, like many others, had changed when she told him it was out of the question. ?You?re not going to make me a widow by the age of 25!? She had said. He winced.

After roughly two months of doing nothing but living off of what he killed and sleeping on the ground, riding his horse from dawn until dusk, he had forgotten what comfort felt like. He had forgotten what it felt like to feel anything but the suffocating bitterness rising up in his throat. He had forsaken his own sense of right and wrong to the anger burning inside of him, demanding that justice be served.

His dark thoughts were broken as he reached the saloon. Someone barreled drunkenly out the swinging doors ? the smell of whiskey and cigars assaulted his nostrils. There was someone banging away on a piano.

He tied up his horse and walked stiffly to the entrance, the sounds of laughter drifting outside.


--


Dear God,

Im not really sure whut yer doin. Im startin ta think that yer not listenin to anything Im prayin for. I thought that by now you would have made things better?but nothing seems to have changed. If you could send me a sign. Let me know that yer still there.

Relena


She signed her name at the bottom of the page and then clicked her tongue as a tear slipped from her lashes and onto the parchment. Writing had been her only outlet in the three months she had been away from home. Her disguise had seemed to work ? a little too well, she thought with a grudge ? and it didn?t look like anyone had expected anything.

Billy had been absolutely livid when she wrote him two weeks after she left home and told him that she wasn?t coming back. He had expected her to be gone for a week at the longest. ?If I had known you?d be leaving permanently, I would have gone with you. You?re not safe out there.? He had written. She could tell that he was more upset than he let on, but there was nothing she could do. After a letter telling her that he was coming to find her, she had high-tailed it as quickly as she could and refused to write him back so that he wouldn?t know her new location. Nothing had changed with the authorities, anyway.

Her parents had told her they?d come find her ? that they could all start a new life somewhere else. She wanted it more than anything, but she knew that it would be a life constantly on the run ? and then they?d be arrested for helping her if they were ever caught. She couldn?t have them suffer for her mistake.

She jumped at every noise in the night. She avoided law enforcement at every corner ? which was why she worked in a saloon. If the Sheriff or anyone came in here, she was the last person they?d look at as a criminal. She was a short, skinny little boy who worked at the poker tables around a bunch of beefy guys, some outlaws, others bounty hunters ? a number of which the law were looking out for. Not her.

She checked her pocket-watch and groaned. She was late again. Grabbing her hat and stuffing it over her head, she opened the door and walked out into the hallway. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the men walk into the saloon prostitute?s room while the woman giggled incessantly. She was thankful she hadn?t been subjected to that sort of a living.

Relena was also thankful that she had become very skilled in cards, particularly poker. Billy had taught her. The last town she had stopped in before Sanc had lost a horseshoe had been Uvalde. Seeing as she and the horse were half-starving to death and she couldn?t afford to buy a new horseshoe, she figured Uvalde had been as good a place as any to try her last few coins on a hand at poker. Within the hour she had nearly quadrupled her bet, and the owner ? Luke ? had been thoroughly impressed. He had been short on help and offered her the position of a dealer on the spot.

And that was how she had managed to secure lodging in the upstairs room of the saloon, as well as enough money to provide food for herself and Sanc. It was a measly salary, but it was enough to get by on. She just didn?t know how long she could keep going like this before somebody figured everything out. Billy had written that Douglas hadn?t outright told the Sheriff that Relena had done the act because he hadn?t been there to witness the act itself, but he had told them that she had been there when he saw the fire from a distance and rode up to Bernice?s cabin.

She scrunched her nose at the smell of tobacco as she walked down the stairs ? it had saturated all of her clothes and hair from the amount of time she spent down here. Luke grinned at her from the bar and she smiled back, the atmosphere in the room light with drunkenness. The other dealer, Timothy, glanced up at her from his position at the table where a group of about five men were receiving their hands, and nodded. He got up and she took his place ? the men barely noticing as they stared down at their cards, each trying to keep their faces straight.

That was when she saw him.

He was wearing all black. He walked into the saloon quietly ? others watched him, unrecognizable as he was. She couldn?t quite make out his facial features because he had a red bandana over his mouth and his black Stetson hat on. Brown, disheveled hair stuck out a little at the bottom. What skin there was was covered in black dirt. He made his way slowly over to the bar and slumped down onto one of the stools, muttering something to Luke. His back was to her as he took his hat off and began to untie the bandana.

?What are you waitin? on??

She was knocked out of her reverie by a gruff voice. All five of the players were looking at her expectantly. She mumbled a gruff apology in as low of a voice as she could muster and commenced the game.

It was second-nature to her now. She could effectively play the game, detached from it if need be, without making a mistake. One of the players was a little shifty and easily gave his hand away with the looks and fidgeting he was doing throughout the game. Three of them were regulars, and one was a rough-looking man who kept his face blank the entire time. By the time they were an hour into the game, the fidgety one was sweating buckets as more and more of his money was placed in the center of the table, as well as the reins to his horse.

She glanced once more at the stranger at the bar. He hadn?t spoken to anyone since he had gotten here ? he had hardly moved except to sip on whatever it was he was drinking, his head down as if he were staring down into his glass. Everyone else seemed to have forgotten about him. Diane ? the prostitute from the room across from Relena?s - walked quickly down the stairs, now in a different outfit. The man she had been with before had left a few minutes earlier, his pocket a little less full. When she was halfway down the stairs she spotted the stranger and grinned, having a better look at him than Relena did. He must have been handsome from the way her eyes lit up.

She made her way over to him slowly, moving her hips in a way that fully advantaged her figure as she walked. He did not glance up from his glass as she leaned up against the bar next to him, the strap on her red dress slipping off of her shoulder. Her cleavage nearly reached her neckline from the tight fit of the corset, her black hair piled high on top of her head with a few curly strands framing her face. She trailed her fingers over his shoulders as she cocked her head and said something flirtatiously to him. He mumbled something back to her, to which an annoyed look came across her face, before she smiled and attempted once again to catch his attention in a more direct manner. She pushed her chest to him as she whispered something seductively into his ear. The man stiffened, and then grabbed her by both shoulders and shoved her in the other direction, growling something at her. She didn?t have a chance to hear what he was saying because the man who had been sweating buckets at her table was suddenly hysterical.

?W-what is this?? He sputtered, holding up an ace. Relena looked across the table to see that everyone had shown their hands, and she herself held four-of-a-kind ? all aces and a queen. There was an extra ace in the deck.

?Yer? cheatin?! I?m takin? my money back!?

?Mister, if you could just let me check with my manager - ?

The poker table was suddenly overturned as the man stood up in anger, cards and chips flying all over the place. She barely had time to react as the man started screaming at her, the others yelling and cursing their injustices.

?No! I want everything back! Now!?

She leaned down to begin picking up the chips before she felt the end of a pistol jabbing her in the back of the head.

?Get yer? hands off my money, son.?

The music in the saloon suddenly stopped. Diane yelped from across the room as everyone turned their attention to the man holding the gun. His hands were trembling shakily on the trigger, his eyes wild. Relena had seen his type before ? the ones who bet more than they could afford to lose. She had just never had one of them to go this far.

She heard a shot and cringed backward before realizing that it hadn?t been from the gun pointed at her head. She turned around to see the man fall down to the ground, holding his bloodied hand and howling in pain. She jerked her head up to see who had just saved her life before she was met with startling blue eyes piercing into her from across the room. She subconsciously shuttered from the detached, heartless way the stranger was looking at her. His gun was still pointed at the man. She stared at him, wide-eyed, before he holstered his weapon and walked stiffly over to the hysterical man on the floor. His spurs shook as he stomped over to him and grabbed the man?s bloodied hand, resulting in cries of rage, before jerking back the man?s sleeve. A Wizard card holdout* was attached by a thin band to the man?s arm.

Luke snapped his fingers and immediately two other men grabbed the man and dragged him out of the saloon to be dealt with. Luke glanced at the stranger and walked over to him, reaching out his hand. The stranger shook his hand stiffly, absolutely no expression on his face. It was disconcerting.

?Thank ya? for yer? help, Mister uh??

?Heero Yuy.?

?Mr. Yuy. Is there any way I kin? repay ya???

?I?m looking for a man named Marsdon Baker. Has anyone here heard of him??

He glanced around the room coldly. When no one volunteered any information he grabbed hold of the counter, his fingertips turning white.

?Devin Stockling. Travis DeWitt. Treize Khushrenada. Do any of those names sound familiar??

Nobody made a sound. Heero cursed loudly and the corner of the counter suddenly broke off in his hand, earning a reprimand from Luke, which Heero completely ignored. He reached into his sack and whipped out a picture of a face that seemed oddly familiar to Relena.

?Has anyone seen this man?? He seethed. Her eyes narrowed on the drawing, but the doors of the saloon swinging open turned her attention away from the picture. She gasped as her brother walked into the saloon. She immediately dropped to her knees and attempted to hide behind the skirts of the women who had gathered around her. She made her way slowly to the back entrance, but paused as she heard a commotion.

?That?s Mr. Lockland!?

Heero jerked his head toward the voice of William Joots, the town banker. William scurried over toward the picture and put on his glasses as he gazed down at it. ?Yes. I?m positive. That is Mr. Frederick Lockland, he does business with my bank. He was here one week ago. Has he done something wrong??

She watched as Heero closed his eyes and sighed, putting the picture back into his sack. ?Yes. Can you tell me where he was headed??

?I believe he mentioned that he had business in Waco. Should?should we be concerned??

She didn?t have time to listen to the rest of the conversation because her brother had begun pacing around the saloon, searching for her. She quickly went out the back door and climbed the outer railing that led up to the top floor of the saloon. She walked into her bedroom and immediately began packing her sparse belongings, glad she had decided to go ahead and get a new horseshoe put on Sanc the day before. Still, it had cost her every last penny of the money she had, and it was too late to make more. A plan had begun to form in her head while she was packing. When she was finished she walked back out through the back exit and spotted Heero Yuy saddling his horse, his black cowboy hat once again atop his head. She ran up to him and he turned to glance at her coldly. She was immediately taken aback by his handsome features, even though his face was devoid of emotion.

?I can help you.? She managed to mumble out, her mind a confusing mix of feelings.

?I don?t need help.? He growled, putting one foot in the stirrup and hefting himself up onto his horse. ?Get lost, kid.?

Something inside of her quietly sulked, but she pushed the feelings aside to focus on her last chance of getting out of here. Her brother would be coming out of the saloon any minute, and she was sure he would keep coming back until he found her. She had to keep him safe.

?I?ve seen him.? She lied, trying to keep a straight face. ?I?ve seen that man. And I know how to get to Waco. I have my own horse. I just have to get out of here. If we was to see him on the way?I could point him out to ya?.? She bit her lip, hoping the lie was convincing. ?I?m flat broke, mister. If ya? could just provide me and my horse with food until we get to Waco, I will gladly do anything ya? need me to. I kin? cook, too, if that makes a diffrence?.?

Heero tensed for a moment as he stared down at her. He looked her point blank in the eyes. Though she was tempted to look away, she didn?t, and she stared back at him, blue meeting blue. Her heart was beating wildly ? he looked capable of killing her so easily ? but behind the coldness, she thought she caught a glimpse of sadness behind his eyes.

?Fine.? He grunted, looking away first.






*A Wizard card holdout was a device used in the west by gamblers to cheat. It held a card up your sleeve.





-

[AliasGrace]

I am lurvvvving this story. Well done you! Please keep it coming!!

[flipped]

great everything.
update!