By Kainen
Sometimes attraction and possibilities arise in the most unanticipated of places.
For everyone out there who has experienced the exhilaration of chance meetings, secret and knowing looks, and feel-great first contact, and for all those who have yet to. And this is especially for Andrea, who's in some dire need for some 3xR goodness.
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Chapter 1
Grass spit up around her as she ran hard across the field. Her lungs were working hard to provide her body with enough oxygen to keep going. She bypassed several other bodies on the field in a blur, her body acting on its own, automatically dodging and manoeuvring around them. At last she was near her target, aware that others were swiftly closing in around her.
Almost skidding to a stop, she took command of the ball and headed further down the field toward the goalie net. Lining up her shot mid stride, Relena drew back and launched the soccer ball at the net. It was a good, mighty kick, with much of her strength behind it. Huffing from her recent exertion, she watched as the ball flew through the air. Watched as the goalie dove to block the shot. And watched as the ball sailed past the goalie's hands?.and right past the net too.
Damn!
Relena grunted her disappointment. She was so close! She could have made that shot.
Turning and walking back up the field Relena heard the loud, piercing sound of the teacher's whistle, signalling the end of fourth period Gym class.
"Students! Come on it!" the teacher shouted over the field. "Bring all the equipment and pylons over to me!"
Breaking into a light jog, Relena enjoyed the cool air that rushed around her face and neck as she headed toward her teacher at the end of the field. It was a bright day and the sun had been particularly strong. It didn't help that she was clad in black shorts and a black short sleeved top. Coming to a stop at the end of the field, Relena took the opportunity to catch her breath as the teacher read off the names of students and tallied the attendance. Breathing deeply, she glanced over at one of her classmates who was just coming in from the game. In the distance the teacher was reading off names.
"Eiffelman, Peter!"
"Hey, Lucretzia," Relena greeted as the girl came to a stop beside her. "That was quite a game. You were good out there."
Relena's classmate smiled and wiped at her brow, plucking at her tee shirt to try and cool herself off. "Thanks. You weren't bad yourself, though I don't see how you could have missed that shot."
"Jaccard, Clyde! Kelson, Mavis!"
Relena chuckled as Lucretzia grinned at her. "I blame the sun. It's a scorcher today." She waved her hand dismissively in front of her and added, "Plus, it was in my eyes. I couldn't see."
Lucretzia's grin widen, nodding in understanding. "Sure, it was. The sun ? bad sun, bad!" In response to her classmate's words, Relena faked a painful expression and put a hand over her heart, feigning injury. Lucretzia chuckled and ask, "Have long have you been playing? Or did you only just take up soccer recently?"
"Well, I used to play when I was younger, but since then it's been years and years since I've been on a field."
"Nibbe, Frank! Noin, Lucretizia!
"I see," Lucretzia said. "Well, that's me. I'll see you tomorrow." Waving goodbye, Relena watched as Lucretzia walked off the field toward the locker rooms inside the school building. It was the second week of school and she had just met the girl a few classes ago. Having recently transferred to the school and not knowing anyone, Relena was glad she had met someone she could talk to. At least in class anyway.
"Peacecraft, Relena!"
Finally.
Upon hearing her name and signalling to the teacher that she was indeed present, Relena followed her fellow players off the field and into the school. Bending over a water fountain, she enjoyed the cool sensation down her throat as she lapped at the water.
Though school was technically finished for the day, Relena wasn't going home just yet. Everyday day after school for an hour, the weight rooms and large gymnasiums were open to students. She heard it was something that attracted a good handful of students, maybe twenty or so for the gym activities and maybe ten or more for the weight room. The school had two gymnasiums, the smaller one being located in the sub-basement of the school. It was for the many basketball players that wanted to shoot hoops and engage in competition with their friends. The larger gym was mainly for soccer, as it was the sport of choice among the students that stayed after classes.
As Relena walked toward the larger gym, she pulled her blond hair loose from its ponytail. She shook her hair out, letting the air cool her scalp. Since Relena was going to stay behind, she didn't bother changing and so took a seat outside the large gymnasium. Not only did this activity provide her with a chance to improve her game and offer her extra exercise, it also gave her an excuse to delay going home.
Her home life was not terrible, but it was not one to envy either. Since her younger days, her parents were consistently away on business trips, often leaving her in the care of her brother. Despite spending the majority of her time with her older brother instead of her parents, Relena was not close with him, especially since there was almost a ten year difference in their ages.
At the beginning, the two had spent meaningful time together, her brother making all efforts to distract Relena from the fact that their Mother and Father were gone?again. Over the years, their interactions dwindled to bare necessity. It wasn't due to just one thing or another, but a culmination of things. Being a young girl at the time, Relena was in need of a female role model, one whom she could confide in and ask questions to. She had felt lost and alone. Her brother could not offer the guidance she so needed as he also had his own life to manage with its accompanying responsibilities.
More often than not he grew to assume a parental role with her. As her brother grew more and more distance from her, Relena's detachment from him increased. Their relationship now was simply one of consequence, as she was old enough now to care for herself. She made her own meals and drove her own car, while half-heartedly trying to be home by dinner time to eat with her brother. Relena knew she still loved her family but she just didn't see the point in being around them when they didn't see a reason to be home more often.
Pulling her hair back into a tight ponytail, Relena entered the gymnasium as the soccer playing students started to trickle in. She mingled around the perimeter of the floor watching everyone and what they were doing. A few had already taken out a soccer ball or two and were practicing penalty shots against the walls of the gym. Four others had disappeared into the equipment room and were in the process of dragging out two large goalie nets. They were large, heavy structures that just barely brushed the top of the frames of the double doors of the equipment room.
Everyone seemed to be waiting for more players to show up, as there weren't enough to make even two teams yet. Not knowing what else to do, Relena took up a corner of the gym and started to stretch out her muscles. After completing a series of stretches that worked her whole body, enough players had showed up to make three teams. As Relena headed toward a basket to grab a coloured penny, she looked around at the gathering players. She was a bit dismayed, and admittedly a bit intimidated, to find that she was the only girl there.
When she was growing up, Relena was a tomboy of sorts, always ready and willing to dive into things without carefully considering the consequences. In sports she was aggressive, at least more aggressive than the average girl. She would use to come home from school with scraps, bruises and grass stains and her mother ? when she was home ? would joke that she had stepped on a field mine. As she got older and grew to prefer sports and generally male-dominated activities and hobbies such as video games and computers, she found she enjoyed being the odd one out, the exception. She wasn't always comfortable with being the only girl around, but she liked the feeling of being an attractive girl getting involved and knowing she could be just as good as the guys, if not better.
But it had been awhile since she'd played any sport, and she knew that her skill level had completely dropped. Because of this she felt nervous about playing with the guys as they would probably see her as a "typical" girl: scared of the ball and afraid of getting hurt. She even entertained the idea of them thinking they would have to go easy on her when she played. Above all Relena did not want any guy to think she was like that. She knew she could run as fast and play just as hard as any of them.
And so with that thought in mind, Relena donned a penny and strode out into the middle of the gym as the players were forming their teams. She took her place in a defence position and waited for the game to begin. The majority of the boys were having a discussing at the centre and when they turned around some of them did a double take when they saw her standing there with her hands on her hips.
Most just ignored her, but a lean boy slide up next her and asked, "You're playing?" He was more than a few inches taller than her and had light, brown bangs that fell in front of his eyes. He was wearing a deep blue tank top with matching shorts. He looked at her through his curtain of hair with an amazed look on his face.
Relena was not surprised at the question; she half-expected it. Looking directly at his cobalt blue eyes, she noticed that they had more than a tinge of violet to them. They were large, friendly eyes with a hint of mischief too.
"Yes," she replied with a smile. The boy took a moment to look at her, the corner of his mouth curling slightly as he nodded and went to take his position for the game. As the boy turned she noticed that he had a length of braided hair that extended well past his waist.
As the game progressed, Relena saw that many of the players did have skill at playing soccer. They weren't randomly kicking the ball in any direction, but running with it and passing it to their team mates. A couple of times she had gotten possession of the ball only to have it stolen from her.
On the opposing team, there was one player who was especially good. He was blond and trim, with very well toned leg and arm muscles. Even from across the court, Relena saw how attractive he was. Decked out in a soccer uniform and matching running shoes, he seemed as if he was torn from the pages of a sports magazine. It looked as if he had the potential to be scouted from how he handled the ball. Relena suspected that he definitely had been on a soccer team somewhere before. She noticed the players tended to pass the ball to him and when he got it, he went. He dodged, faked and ran the ball across the court so easily it looked like second nature to him.
And he had one hell of a hard kick. Her team's goalie was able to block a goal with his hands but complained after that his wrists hurt because they had snapped back due to the speed of the ball. She was impressed to say the least.
On her own team, there was the braided boy that had come up to her earlier and a tall, lanky boy with a length of dark brown hair that fell before his eyes. He was quick on his feet and he often teamed up with the braided boy for the soccer ball. Both had their own style of playing: the braided boy preferred faking with his opponent, making him think he was going one way when he was really wasn't. He liked to fake and then kick the ball in the opposite direction before running around his opponent to retrieve the ball. The other preferred to hang in the background so he could use his long legs to intercept a pass from the opposing team. Using his height to his advantage he'd often bump the ball with his head whenever it became airborne.
Relena was still feeling out of place amongst the boys when the opposing team finally scored a point, thus eliminating her team. Her heart was palpitating as she and her team mates walked off the court, as another team took their place. Relena plunked herself down on the floor as she caught her breath. Boy, was she really out of shape. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the rest of her team at the other end of the court, talking to each other.
Relena sighed.
Go team.
While she watched the game before her, Relena bent her left leg to stretch out her muscles before switching to the other. She was massaging both thigh muscles with her fingers when out of the corner of her eye she noticed someone looking at her and turned her head. From her position she saw that on the other end of the court the tall boy with the long legs was looking at her. His body was turned toward the court and his hands were on his hips. Making eye contact with her, he slowly smiled showing a perfect row of teeth. Holding his gaze a moment, Relena smiled back as he turned his attention back to the game.
What was that about? Relena wondered. She wasn't given time to ponder for long, as it was time for her team to take to the court again. The blond boy's team had won again. The last game, she was in defense. This time around, Relena jogged to the goalie net and took up position. As she settled in, another boy from her team approached her
"Hey, listen. I'll be goalie," he said as he came to a stop about six feet in front of her.
Relena regarded him with a raised eyebrow. She didn't want to move. It looked like he wanted to take over because he thought she couldn't handle being goalie.
I don't think so.
"No, that's OK. I'll be goalie this game," she replied casually. "You can guard the net next time."
The boy simply stared at her, incredulous. "What? Look ?"
A voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. "Just let her be goalie."
Relena glanced over and discovered that the voice belonged to the tall, lanky boy. "It's OK. It's not a problem," he continued as he walked up to them. He stood about equal distance from both her and the other boy but it was clear that he was very much taller than either of them.
The shorter boy regarded both of them with a sceptical look before turning and walking away without another word. As Relena watched the boy go, the taller boy closed the distance between them and looked down at her. He was at least a head taller than Relena with deep forest green eyes with what looked to be faint, light green and yellow specks of colour around the pupils. He had a wide smile with smooth, sensual lips. As he looked at her, his length of hair fell in front of his face to obscure one of his green eyes from her sight. His skin was tanned slightly which served to contour his facial features nicely. He was very striking.
He turned and pointed to the blond player from the other team. The blond was standing in the middle of the court balancing the soccer ball on one foot before hopping up and catching and then balancing the ball with his other foot.
"He kicks hard," the tall boy said to her. "If the ball heads toward you, just let it go by. You don't have to get hurt."
Relena appreciated his advice and his earlier interjection, and so she nodded and smiled at him. He regarded her with a silent look before turning to take his position as a defenseman. Relena followed his retreating form and watched him bend his knees to ready himself for the start of the game. Of course, she had no intention of just letting the ball go by her or getting hurt.
As the game progressed there were near misses and close calls but neither team could score. And throughout most of the game, Relena's team was able to keep control of the ball. Eventually, the blond star player managed to break past the offence and overcome the defence and head straight for her. Relena tensed ? her offence was on the other side of the court and her defence was nowhere near her.
I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready.
Relena bent her knees and prepared herself. Her eyes were focussed on the ball and the player's posture, trying to glean anything that would give away which direction he was going to kick. In the end, all her efforts did no good. The ball rushed toward her and Relena reached for it with outstretched arms. She felt the ball graze the tips of her fingers as it flew past her before slamming into the net. Relena looked up and saw the blond smirk at her, a satisfied look on his face. Much to her dismay, her cheeks reddened a slightly and she averted her eyes, staring at the ball on the floor.
By the time Relena raised her eyes from the floor, she was able to laugh off her failed attempt at blocking the ball. She chalked it up to lack of practice and bad luck on her part.
Next time?
The hour was up and players began filing out of the gym. On the way to the change rooms Relena saw the green eyed boy stop for a drink from the water fountain. The violet eyed boy was leaning against the wall next him with his arms crossed, chatting away. As Relena past the two, the boy with the braid stood up from the wall and grinned at her.
"Nice try," he said with a wink.
Relena looked at him and smiled back. "Thanks."
After Relena closed the door to her change room, she pulled the elastic from her hair and shook out her blond locks. Her golden strands fell past her shoulder blades and she finger combed her hair from her face. She changed out of her gym clothes quickly enough and slipped on a pair of low rise black jeans and a sky blue short sleeved t-shirt. She headed for the sink and splashed water on her face. Her skin was warm to the touch and the cool water refreshed her. Looking in the mirror Relena properly combed out her hair and flipped it behind her shoulders, deciding not to tie it up again.
For a moment she looked at her reflection, noting her features: a face blessed with clear and smooth skin; pink, full lips ready to burst into a smile at anytime; defined cheekbones; electric blue eyes that could look at anyone and pierce right through them; and golden and honey blond hair with bangs that preferred to be swept to the side that almost veiled her eyes. She never really considered herself pretty or attractive; she mostly thought she was just another face in the crowd. Preferring not to delve too deeply into the subject, Relena flicked her bangs to the side before snapping up her bag and clothes.
When she exited the change room, the hallway and gym were deserted. Thinking that boys must change very fast, she headed up the hall and ascended the stairwell to the second floor where her locker was. As she walked into the locker bay Relena was already thinking of how the next day's soccer game would go. She definitely wanted to try her hand at the goalie's net again. So involved was she with her thoughts that she neglected to notice someone calling out to her from one of the passing lockers.
Snapping to attention Relena saw that it was the tall, green eyed boy that was trying to get her attention. Relena looked over and saw him standing tall and gorgeous by an open locker door. One of his hands was resting on his hip and he looked at her form behind his length of hair. The one green eye that was visible locked directly with her eyes and wouldn't let go.
With a smooth and even tone he spoke to her: "Good game. Are you coming to play tomorrow?"
Taking a moment to break their connection, a smiled grew on her lips and she said confidently, "Of course."
The boy smiled at her response showing her his white teeth. He took his hand off his hip and moved toward her. "This is getting interesting," he said as he stood in front of her. "Now we have girls playing."
Relena didn't know what to say to that. She was too busy looking at his physique: tall, lean, strong, athletic. She looked up at his face when she heard him speak again and extend his hand to her. "What's your name?"
Automatically, she reached for his hand and shook it. "Relena"
"I'm Trowa," he said to her. His skin was warm and he took his time releasing her hand. "I'll see you tomorrow, Relena."
The corners of her mouth quirked and her lips formed a smile and she nodded. "Yeah," she said to him and began to walk away, heading for her locker.
He watched her go, a smile still on his face.
Things really were getting interesting.
TBC
Author's (Ever Important!) Note: I first want to say thank you to all who have read, enjoyed and reviewed my story entitled "Tea".
GundamVixen, darky (I love your icon, BTW!), Andrea...thanks for your views and comments! I know it's been awhile since I put that first chapter out, but I'm getting back into the swing of things.
Hopefully this story will entertain and tide you readers over until I can get the next chapter out for "Tea".
Though the first chapter didn't feature Trowa so much, it was preparing the setting for all the subsequent events. Obviously, it's a story between Trowa and Relena. I have to say it's a personal story to me because the interactions (but not all of them) that Relena has and, as the story progresses, will have are based on my own experiences. I'll leave it up to the readers to decide what's real and what came from my little ol' writer's mind.
Of course, you could just ask me, but where's the fun in that? I was first inspired to write this after my own chance encounter. I thought it would help me figure out what do and sort things out in my mind. Your comments on Trowa's behaviour are more than welcomed! (It's Trowa after all!
)In the end, you readers get another 3xR story to enjoy!
So...enjoy!
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by Sunrise and Sotsu Agency.
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"Where is that monkey? I really want to shoot something!!!!!