Disclaimer: [sigh] ... [sigh again] ... [blink, blink] Huh? Oh, yeah. I don't own Gundam Wing.
Here it is, the continuation of Mismatched. Like its predecessor, Mix 'N Match is a Romantic Comedy, complete with its own batch of ironies and twists though this fic will be addressing heavier issues than just sneaking around. It will also be more focused on Trowa, Quatre, Catherine and Dorothy but don't worry, the other couples still have big parts in this. For comments, suggestions, flames or reviews, you can email me at raizenheero@aol.com
AC 200 EARTH (2 months after the most controversial first year wedding anniversary in ESUN history)
Well, Duo did it again. Heero, Trowa and even Wufei had to salute him. He really knew how to celebrate with a bang. For their 2nd year wedding anniversary, Duo surprised Hilde by arranging a sailboat wedding in the Bahamas. But not only did he plan to renew their wedding vows, he also made sure that they all had fun. So for 3 days, Duo, Hilde, Heero, Relena, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Sally, Zechs, Noin, Dorothy and Catherine enjoyed the boat, the beach, the hotel, the scenery and each other's company.
After spending the whole day island hopping, the gang went back to their rented suite to sip their drinks (except for Relena who was 3 months pregnant, she was stuck to drinking juice) and have a little chitchat. This was their last night together and by tomorrow, they would be returning to their respective homes. They were maximizing every minute of their little get-together because they had to wait for months before they could have another chance like this to relax and be together.
Catherine anxiously smiled at everyone as she sipped her drink. Dorothy, on the other hand, finished one glass after the other, trying to calm her nerves. They planned to tell everyone the truth about their relationship during Duo and Hilde's 2nd year wedding anniversary and this was their last chance. When Dorothy felt that she was buzzed enough to have the guts to confess, she glanced at Catherine. Seeing that she was as buzzed up as she was, Dorothy said, "Umm, guys I have a confession to make."
Everyone stopped talking and focused their attention on her. "What I mean is we have a confession to make. Catherine and me," she amended, her voice becoming slurred because of too much alcohol and anxiety. Ten pairs of eyes looked at her, then at Catherine, then back at her again. Catherine finished her wine in one gulp and poured another glass. When a few minutes passed and Dorothy just kept on staring at everyone, Duo said, "So? What's the confession? We're dying to hear it."
Dorothy blinked and studied Duo carefully. His face was neutral but his eyes were twinkling mischievously, as if telling her that he already knew what the confession was all about. She could just imagine the satisfaction on his face when they confirmed his suspicions. I bet we'll never hear the end of his gloating, she thought. Coming to a decision, Dorothy took a deep breath then slurred, "We're drunk. Right, Cathy?"
Catherine was surprised that Dorothy backed out at the last minute, though what the blond woman just said was not entirely a lie. "I guess so. I can see two of you, Dorothy."
Everybody laughed. Trowa stood up and went to his sister. "Cathy, it's time for bed. Come on, I'll take you to your room."
"Go and enjoy yourself, Trowa. I'll take care of her. I'm heading to bed myself," Dorothy told him as she helped Catherine to her feet. "Goodnight, guys," Dorothy and Catherine called out.
"Goodnight," the other 10 chorused, watching Dorothy held Cathy's arm as she led her to their room.
Upon entering, Catherine threw herself on the bed, Dorothy joining her after she had closed the door. They laid on their backs, side by side, staring at the ceiling.
"Why did you chicken out, Dorothy?"
Dorothy cringed at Catherine's choice of words. She hadn't backed out of anything before, and it made her feel weak just thinking that she, indeed, chickened out of their confession earlier. "I really was planning to confess, Cathy. But seeing Duo's face, I just kind of lost my resolve."
Catherine smiled. "I understand. But unless we do something about his face, I'm certain that it would stay that way for a long, long time." Dorothy chuckled, thinking of so many ways of 'changing' Duo's face. "We can't continue on procrastinating forever. We have to tell them, and the sooner it is, the better."
A sigh escaped from Dorothy's lips. "I know. Maybe if Duo is not present, I'll get the guts to confess. But I guess that's only wishful thinking. Duo is always going to be there, whether we like it or not." She turned her head to look at Catherine. "So, want to try it again?"
Catherine reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from Dorothy's face. "I think we should wait. I have this feeling that we're not that ready yet to come clean. Maybe on Christmas, during Noin and Zechs' grand Christmas celebration in the Sanc Kingdom, we could finally tell them."
"Hmm, good idea. That way, we still have more than 3 months to prepare ourselves. And I promise that I wouldn't get intimidated by Duo's face then," Dorothy said, grinning. She lifted her head and leaned over to plant a kiss on Cathy's forehead. "Well, a shower is a must. It'll clear up our heads and erase the mixed smell of the ocean, the sun, sweat and alcohol in our skins."
Catherine smiled her consent as both of them rose from the bed and headed to the bathroom.
When the two women disappeared from view, Wufei commented, "That was interesting."
"You said it, Wu-man. I really believe that they were finally going to tell us about 'them'. But I guess they chickened out," Duo said.
"Can't blame them though. Seeing Duo's face might had changed their minds,"Zechs stated.
"What's wrong with my face now?" Duo wailed.
"Well, you had that all-knowing, all-smirking look on your face that would scare anyone out of their confession," Heero answered, his hands reaching out to Relena's still small tummy. Relena smiled and snuggled closer to her husband.
"I can't help it if I already knew what they were going to say. And I desperately wanted to yell 'I told you so' to everyone,"Duo retorted.
"Duo!" Hilde exclaimed, slapping him on the shoulders. "Why do you insist that Cathy and Dorothy have a relationship?"
"Yeah. Tell us. What's with men that they always assume that two women who are always hanging out together have a relationship?" Sally added.
"Because they really do have a relationship," Trowa replied.
"You can't be serious," Noin said.
"I am. I had my suspicions for a while now and our charade with them 2 months ago just confirmed it."
"As did I. We were just too caught up with our own problems then to focus our attentions at them," Heero ammended.
"How could you be suspicious? None of us had seen anything suspicious about their behavior," Relena said, glancing at the 3 other girls in the room. They all nodded their agreement.
"As Sally said earlier, it's a male thing. We don't know how or why but we always know," Quatre told them.
"So what are we going to do about it?" Duo asked.
Everyone turned to look at him. "Why would we do anything about it, Maxwell? It's their life," Wufei said.
"I agree with Wufei. We should just wait for them to personally tell us the truth," Zechs added.
"But it's taking them too long! And we all already knew about it anyways."
"Even so, we still have to wait for them to tell us. They're our friends, Duo," Hilde told them.
"Hilde is right. We should respect their privacy and their decision. If and when they choose to tell us, we'll be there for them," Noin said.
Sally put down her glass. "But what I can't understand is why they haven't told us yet, that is if they really do have a relationship. What are they afraid of? We've accepted Trowa and Quatre's relationship, theirs wouldn't be that different, would it?"
Quatre sighed. "No it wouldn't. But it still is very hard to admit that kind of thing to everyone. Remember that it took us a year before Trowa and I admitted our relationship to you guys. Then it took us another year to admit it to the whole ESUN."
Relena took a sip of her orange juice. "It must be tearing them apart, not being able to reveal their true selves, not being able to tell everyone whom they really love. It's just like what I felt a year ago."
"Now, do you understand what I was trying to tell you guys? They're hurting and as their loving and supportive friends, we've got to do something to help them," Duo said.
"Help them? How?" Hilde inquired.
"We all established the fact that we're going to accept their relationship just like we had accepted Trowa and Quatre's, right?" Everyone nodded. "So the only thing left is for them to confess."
"That's the problem, Duo. We all know that they want to tell us about their relationship but something is holding them back," Noin told him.
"Well, we just have to back them in a corner so they don't have any choice but to confess."
"How are we going to do that?" Sally asked
"Divide and Conquer," Heero suddenly said.
Relena looked at him. "What are talking about, Heero?"
"Divide and Conquer, one of the most famous and effective strategies of all time. You isolate your enemies, dealing with them one at a time."
"We're not dealing with enemies here, Heero. It's Cathy and Dorothy we're talking about."
"Heero is right. It's a good strategy, even in dealing with friends," Trowa voiced out.
Duo pondered his words. "Divide and Conquer e? It might just work. I have a plan but I need Quatre and Trowa's help."
Zechs looked at him suspiciously. "What are you up to now, Duo?"
"Think about it. If two men, shall we say, come on to Dorothy and Catherine, they'll be forced to admit that they're already involved with someone else to ward off these 'admirers'. And the only two men I could think of that would be suitable for the job are Trowa and Quatre."
Wufei rubbed his throbbing temple. "Just as I expected. Only Maxwell can come up with a crazy idea like that."
Duo ignored Wufei. "Well?" he asked Trowa and Quatre. The two looked at each other. "If it's really going to help them, then I agree," Quatre answered.
"And if it's ok with Quatre then it's ok with me," Trowa said.
"What? Are you seriously thinking of going through with this? After all that Dorothy and Catherine had done for us, you're planning on tricking them just so they could finally confess that they have a relationship?" Relena asked increduously.
"I feel bad about this whole deception thing too, Relena. But if this is the only way I could help them then I'll do it. I don't want them to continue on hiding forever," Quatre told her.
"The same goes for me. They helped us when we needed them, it's high time we pay them back. And helping them to openly express their love for each other is the only way I could think of returning the favor," Trowa ammended.
Relena sighed. "I understand. I want to help them too you know. Just be careful, this kind of plans tend to backfire."
"By the way, after they confessed we're going to tell them the truth too right? What if they get mad at us? I don't think blatant deception comprises a good friendship," Hilde said.
"We'll just tell them that we had their best interests at heart when we thought of the plan. They'll understand," Sally told her.
"I think that we should give them ample time to confess on their own before implementing the plan. That way, we could honestly say that we really do have their best interests at heart, resorting only to deception when there's no other alternatives left for us in order to help them," Noin suggested. "Maybe 3 months would be fine."
Duo smiled. "3 months it is. Comments? Suggestions? Violent reactions?" he asked. None. "So, are you all in?" he asked again. Hilde, Sally, Noin, Relena, Trowa and Quatre nodded. Wufei, Zechs and Heero just shrugged. Well, in my vocabulary that means yes, Duo said to himself. "Ok, here are the details..."
L3 Colony (Catherine's trailer) 7 am
Catherine lifted her head up from Dorothy's shoulders when she heard her vidphone ring. Without thinking, she immediately reached out to her bedside table to answer the call.
"Cathy, I'm --- " Quatre's voice trailed off as he saw Catherine shot up into a sitting position, clutching her blanket to her chest (her very naked chest that is). Quatre gulped at the sight of her, only managing to tear off his gaze when he saw something stir from behind her.
Hearing Quatre's voice, Catherine jolted into a sitting position, startled. She barely remembered to cover herself with her blanket. She then noticed that Quatre was staring at something behind her. Oh no! Dorothy! She must not let him see Dorothy. With this in mind, Catherine fully faced the screen, blocking Quatre's view. That way, all that he could see was her. Well, it worked alright. Quatre definitely stopped peering over her shoulder and started focusing his attention on her, more specifically on the rhythmic rising and falling of her chest. "What were you saying, Quatre?" Catherine asked, smiling.
Quatre blinked. "Oh, I was just saying sorry for calling you this early in the morning," he told her. Remembering his mission, he made his face grew sad. "I just wanted to know if you have heard from Trowa, if he's with you or if you know where he is."
Catherine frowned. "Why? Isn't he with you?"
Quatre shook his head. "We had this huge fight yesterday and he stormed out of the house. I thought that he just needed to cool off so I left him alone and waited til he came back. But he never did. Then I called the Preventers base here and asked them if Trowa stayed there last night. They told me that Trowa filed an indefinite leave of absence yesterday afternoon. And they hadn't seen him ever since he stepped out of the base." Quatre stopped for a dramatic effect then in a broken voice continued, "Cathy, I think we broke up."
Catherine felt a pang in her heart as she looked at his sad blue eyes. She wanted to reach out and comfort him. "I don't know all the details but I'm pretty sure that it still hasn't come to that. Maybe both of you just needed time. You'll work things out. And I promise that the moment I heard from Trowa, I'll tell you where he is."
Quatre gave her a sad smile. "Thanks, Cathy."
Catherine really felt bad for him. "Can I do anything to help?" she asked. "Do you want me to keep you company for a while?"
Quatre's eyes brightened. It worked! So Duo was right all along. Nobody can resist my sad baby blue eyes, he thought happily though he was feeling a twinge of guilt. How can I do this to Catherine? No, I shouldn't think about that. I'm doing this for their own good, hers and Dorothy's. "Can you? I would really like to have a friend stay with me. I'm not used to being alone. Trowa was just gone for a day but I'm beginning to miss him. I don't know if I could bear it…"
"I'll be happy to stay with you. Luckily, we'll be having a two-week show there at L4. We'll be leaving today."
"That's great! You can stay here at the mansion and I could just drive you to the circus whenever you need to go there for practices and shows. Then during your free time, we could go out and have fun."
Catherine was glad that she managed to uplift Quatre's spirits. "That sounds fine to me. But what about your work? I might take up too much of your time."
"I'm planning to take the next two weeks off. I don't think I could accomplish much with my present state of mind," Quatre replied, forcing his voice to sound sad. "Then there's the Peacecraft Christmas Ball. That's 16 days from now, right? So after your show, you could stay here for another 2 days then we could go to Earth together."
"Sure. I like that," Catherine answered with a smile, though mentioning the Christmas Party made her a bit nervous.
"By the way, what time are you arriving here? That way I know when to pick you up."
"We'll be there by 2. The circus will be performing on the Cratian Plaza so we're going to head there directly from the spaceport to set-up the tents and everything."
"Cratian Plaza? That's only 10 minutes walking distance from the mansion," Quatre beamed. "Well then, see you later, Cathy. And thanks for everything."
"Anytime, Quatre. Bye." With that, Quatre's image disappeared from the screen.
"Did I hear it right? Did Quatre and Trowa really break up?" Dorothy asked.
"That's what Quatre said. I couldn't believe it either. Those two were practically inseparable. They even had that charade with Heero and Relena for a year so they could remain true to their selves and to their love. How would a single fight break them up?"
"It might be more serious that we think," Dorothy said. Then she remembered something. "Hey, you're spending more than 2 weeks with Quatre, right? Maybe you can ask him for details so we'll know why they broke up."
"That's a nice idea. I'll do that," Catherine said, thinking of the ways how she could pry information from Quatre, subtlety of course. A frown suddenly appeared on her face as she exclaimed, "But where the hell is Trowa? He wouldn't just disappear somewhere without telling me first, would he?"
Dorothy gave her a hug. "Don't worry, big sister. Little brother just left yesterday. He'll call you real soon. I just know it," she assured Cathy.
Catherine smiled. "Thanks. Now, off to the shower with you. You still have to go back to your house and pack your things. You might miss your flight."
"Yes boss," Dorothy saluted as she reached out for her robe and headed to the trailer's bathroom. Catherine donned her robe as well, making her way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. A few minutes later, she heard her vidphone ring again. She placed the plate of newly cooked bacon on the table then went to the bedroom to answer the call.
"Trowa! Quatre just called here looking for you. Where the hell are you?"
Trowa felt guilty at the thought of lying to his sister but he had to. You're doing this for her, he assured himself, so she could be happy. After this, both of you would be happy. "I'm staying with Heero and Relena. Can I ask a favor, sis?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"I know the circus is scheduled to perform on L4 so I figured maybe you could keep an eye on Quatre for me. I think he's taking this hard."
So, he still cares about him. "Did you really break-up? Is it really over?" Catherine asked.
No. We just made it appear that way so Quatre can seduce you and I could seduce Dorothy, he said to himself. Trowa remained silent, wondering what Catherine's reaction would be like if ever he said those words outloud. Catherine misinterpreted Trowa's silence, thinking that maybe Trowa couldn't deal with this right now or he was just confused as to whether their relationship was really over or not. "Want to tell me all about it?"
"I can't talk about it now, Cathy. Sorry."
"Oh, it's ok. I understand. And don't worry about Quatre. I'll look after him."
"Thanks." Suddenly Trowa asked, "Who's that?" pointing behind her.
Looking over her shoulder, she had a glimpse of long, platinum blond hair before the bathroom door was shut close. "Umm, it's just this guy I'm seeing."
"A guy with long, platinum blond hair. I didn't know you had a thing for Zechs look-alikes, Cathy," Trowa commented. Catherine frowned. There was something about the way he said it that made her suspicious. She tried to read his face, looking for a sign whether he already knew her secret or not. But as usual, she found nothing.
"I'll see you at the party, sis. Take care." With that said, Trowa ended the call.
Dorothy went out of the bathroom, clad in her terry robe. "That was another close one. And Zechs look-alike my ass. I don't look like Zechs." Catherine chuckled. "Ok, maybe it's the hair. But still. And why do people suddenly got the urge to call you this early in the morning?"
Catherine watched her put on her clothes. "Well, Trowa and Quatre just had a crisis, it's expected of them to call those closest to them for support." Catherine then grinned. "I guess I'm not the only one who's going to spend time with a brokenhearted guy."
"Oh yeah huh. I'm staying with Heero and Relena for more than 2 weeks too. My incompetent Board of Directors can't do anything right, I have to do everything by myself. I have to close 3 business deals and attend a conference on L1. Life sucks."
"No it doesn't. You're going to get a chance to spend time with Heero, Relena and Trowa. That's fun. And after the hard work, you're going with them to the Christmas Party," Catherine told her. An idea then popped to her head. "Maybe you could talk to Trowa and find out what happened."
Dorothy cocked an eyebrow. "If you, his own sister, can't make him talk about it, what gives you the idea that I could possibly succeed where you failed?"
"Because Trowa would rather open up to you than to me about those stuff," Catherine said knowingly. "And maybe then, we could do something to make them get back together."
"Hmm, you'll take care of Quatre while I take care Trowa. The principle of Divide and Conquer. Not bad. Not bad at all." Dorothy stated. "I agree. It's a deal then," she grinned, reaching out to shake hands with Catherine.
Catherine took her hands and shook it, smiling as they sealed the deal. "After this, they're so going to love us."
Oh they will. They definitely will.
Next on Mix 'N Match... Life takes on a surprising 'development', one that they never saw coming. Where will this surprising turn lead them?